


Slow Growth

by Araminia16



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Comfort, F/M, First Time, Follows the storyline, I mean they have been flirting and courting for a while but that's just really fast., Introduction to sex, Keyleth is super naive about how things work, Light Wing Kink, Sort of ignores the timeline of the pan to the fireplace I think, Though honestly I thought it was a little fast for them to just jump right into sex, accidental voyerism, includes snippets from the year break, slowish burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-23
Updated: 2020-07-27
Packaged: 2020-09-24 12:48:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 21
Words: 44,082
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20358760
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Araminia16/pseuds/Araminia16
Summary: “Tell me what you like, Kiki.” He begged before he couldn’t help to bend down and kiss her again with just as much vigor as before from the way her pleasure blown eyes couldn’t focus on him.What she liked? Another small noise escaped her as her nails dug into his armor. “What do you mean? I like you.”





	1. Chapter 1

Keyleth released a short exhale as they parted and gave Vax a smile which he returned. Flushed cheeks and bright eyes clouded with affection and desire prompted him to move in again. Their lips soft and pliable, wet with saliva from previous embraces and plump with attention. Her thin, soft hands buried within dark hair while his rested on her upper back. This was one of the many times they lay in bed and enjoyed the gentle intimacy of their new status. The first few times had bright red cheeks and shy glances as they deepened the chaste kisses they began with. 

Keyleth learned quickly but not ambitiously as she traced his lip with her little tongue and his cheek pulled back as he opened his mouth to let her in and tangled further into her mouth. A small noise traveled directly from his ear to the hard length trapped in his leathers. The small sounds of enjoyment tinged with something more had him shift restlessly. It never went further than kisses and a few caresses to shoulders, head and hair, back. Never to the front and it didn’t bother him. Honestly it didn’t. Well. Right now it did a little bit because it was a tad uncomfortable but he kept breathing through his nose while Keyleth stroked through his hair and down to his shoulders. He couldn’t really feel it but he knew the pressure of touch and he followed suit. It was always in him to follow his lover’s lead as it tended to bite him less if he did so. Keyleth was so strong, so brave, and so beautiful he wanted to be perfect for her and if she wanted to move slowly he would do so. Or not move forward at all really. Honestly as long as he was with her he would have whatever she would give happily. 

One thing he noticed this time was her restlessness below as she shifted her legs and hips around almost as if in a little discomfort herself. He filed it away for later. 

It was a short time later when Keyleth broke off to bury her head in his chest while she swallowed her rapid heart rate and harsh breaths to calm down. Her belly always tingled now when they did this. Especially when they used tongues to kiss. She liked it but didn’t really know what she should do next. This was nice though, especially when he would hold her afterwards and she could hear his racing heart as well. She knew this might eventually lead to sex and the thought turned her belly in knots. She knew about sex. All the Ashari were taught the basic things but she hadn’t been interested in learning any more though she did see many animals engage in mating while growing up and she was sure not everyone did it that way. She knew Vax had other lovers before her and Vex as well, maybe Percy but they didn’t talk about those things and Scanlan always talked about things the others seemed to know about but she had no idea. He’s definately had a lot of sex. 

“This is fun.” She confessed as she bit her lip and traced patterns in his armor. 

“I rather think so too, Kiki.”

“Good.” She nodded and stayed a while longer until the dampness between her thighs started to cool into a sticky mess. It was little to excuse her way into the bathroom and clean up after she emptied her bladder. She knew what the wetness was for but did there have to be so much of it? 

Vax tightened his thigh muscles rhythmically as he willed his erection to go down. No show tonight. It was a trick in his youth when they would pop at random and in the worst places. It would be easier to work it out but he didn’t know how long he had and needed to change into something better for sleep. He managed to do both just before Keyleth entered the room in her slim shirt and short sleeping pants with a smile. “Hey.”

“Hey yourself.” He slipped under the sheets a little more securely before Keyleth extinguished the lights and climbed in to rest her head on his chest to hear his heartbeat. The steady bum-bum made for a great lullaby as she fell asleep. 

Vax watched her forehead relax gradually as she drifted off to sleep. He spared a glance over at her headdress which had its own special place on the table nearby. Thin, long fingers brushed her mess of red hair from the freckles on her face and he stroked her cheek tenderly. Of course he could wait. He could wait forever for her. 

@#@#@

She had been magnificent today. Such command of nature had his blood run hot as he pressed her down into the mattress below. He didn’t usually take such an aggressive position but today he needed to show her how amazing she was. 

Keyleth gasped into his mouth as he pinned her down and kissed her with vigor. The curtain of his hair fell from his shoulders in a rather pretty halo while she tried to blink and keep up. He tore his mouth from her and panted while she gazed up at him. “Tell me what you like, Kiki.” He begged before he couldn’t help to bend down and kiss her again with just as much vigor as before from the way her pleasure blown eyes couldn’t focus on him. 

What she liked? Another small noise escaped her as her nails dug into his armor. “What do you mean? I like you.” She breathed out once he allowed her. “I like kissing you.” It seemed like the right answer but instantly regretted it when his brow furrowed with displeasure. “I like it when you hold me.” Still not right and the heat from their frenzied encounter cooled rapidly in the wake of her self-doubt. 

Vax pulled away from her in confusion and guilt as the bright light in her eyes dimmed like they did when she thought she had made a mistake. 

“Did I say something wrong?” Her voice, usually loud, louder than it needed to be, now quiet. 

“No.” Fast. Too fast. Too much conviction. “No. Kiki. You didn’t do anything wrong. Come here.” Vax for the first time really thought about her. Kashaw had taken her first kiss. First kiss. And he her second. She probably had never had a partner at all before from how adorably awkward she was when they met. He was an idiot. He pulled her into his arms and rested against the pillows with her tight to his chest. 

“What is it? Why did you look at me like that?” 

“I’m an idiot, that’s why.”

“An idiot?” 

Her voice smaller now and he cursed internally, “Yes. But not because of you. Kiki.”

“Do you want to have sex?” The question so out of the blue he could only stare at her with his mouth agape. “I know about that. The basic stuff you know. If you want to I could try. I know that’s what kissing can lead to. I’m not sure I would be much good at it but--.” Vax silenced her rambling with a hand over her mouth. 

“Shhhhh. Stop that. No. We aren’t doing that. We’re going to lie down here together and cuddle for a while, alright?” 

“But--? Okay, Vax. I like this too.” She answered while she buried her now burning face into his chest. Melora above why was she so stupid sometimes? The comforting hand of her boyfriend as he stroked along her head and down her back calmed her down enough to look up at him and he looked far away as he stared off into some unknown point. “Vax?”

“Yeah Keek?” 

“I need to pee.” 

Vax laughed and gave her another kiss to the head before he released her to do her business. 

When she finished she found Vax lying on their bed sans shirt with his hands above his head and Keyleth took a moment to admire his lean musculature which Vax noticed but didn’t bring attention to while he watched her. 

“Come here.” He moved one arm to gesture her forward and she crept toward him with a shy look. The bed dipped with the weight of one knee, then the rest of her as she crawled toward him. When she was close enough he hauled her over despite her squeak of protest. He locked her to him with his forearm while she adjusted for comfort and for a while he just drew strange symbols...letters...elvish letters into the skin of her shoulder where her robe didn’t cover. “Hey. So. There’s something I think we should discuss between the two of us. I love you. Right? You know this? It isn’t old news.” 

“Yeah. I love you too.” 

“Good. Great. So. Although I’m not as well traveled as my sister is I seem to be quite a bit more than you, would that be right?” 

“Yes?” She thought she knew what he was talking about.

“Okay. So knowing this...how far have you traveled?” 

“We aren’t actually talking about walking are we? Right?”

“No. Not walking.” Gods he loved her.

“Ummm. The only time I’ve traveled is with you.” 

“Ever? Haven’t you gone on any walks by yourself?”

“Ummmm. No? I haven’t felt any urge to walk by myself. Not until us.” 

“Shit.” Vax rubbed his free hand over his eye and pressed with a short exhale. “Okay. So. Let’s just let things be as they are for now.”

“As they are? Can we still kiss? And cuddle?” 

“Of course. I love cuddles with my Kiki.” He pressed her closer. “I just don’t want you to feel… pressured.”

“I want to do other things.” She protested. “Not all the time but I think it would be really nice with you.” 

“I certainly hope so. For now. We will sleep. We have much more important things to worry over. Dragons. Namely.”

“Yeah. Dragons.” That really was a mood killer.


	2. The Night Before Vorugal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keyleth is having a hard time reconciling the deal with Raishan and the upcoming battle with Vorugal and so Vax helps.

This was necessary. Keyleth knew it and she hated it. That insidious beast had used her people to cause chaos and destruction to innocent lives. Had brought back a tyrant dragon and thought she could use it to cure her disease. Fuck her. Fuck her disease. She thought she was so smart, so cunning she could use them for her toys then fuck off without any repercussions. Fuck that. 

Percy was right. They had to protect his home and keep what happened to hers to happen to his. If she proved to be untrustworthy they could light her up like a beacon and smote her ruin atop the world. That sounded good. Life is destruction. Screw her. She had a duty to her people. The dragon bitch hadn’t made it easy. It should be finished and not have so much of this dance she didn’t care or want to truly understand. And now they were in Draconia about to face off against another dragon and they had to see if Raishan would help them and then have to make another deal with her if she did.

So deep inside her own mind filled with chaos she almost didn’t hear him call out for her.

“Kiki.” 

“What?” The word snarled into the space between them then pulled back, “What?” Gentler now. 

So much had been wrapped up in her mind she hadn’t noticed him rearrange the bed or rather remove items from it. “Come here.” 

“I can’t. There’s too much to do. Too much to think about it. What if it doesn’t work? What if Scanlan casts that Gate Spell and it fucks us over like everything else seems to? Or Raish--.”

“That’s a problem for tomorrow. I still want you to come here.” His tone with the coaxing gentleness for which she softened for pulled her around to where he gestured and found a seat of softness at the side of the bed. “Sit here.”

“Why?”

“Just sit. Come on.” He leaned over and gently pulled her forward. Though her soul screamed for action she wanted to please him and so she crossed her legs to sit down on the crafted seat. There was a moment of displacement as it sunk inward and with some assistance from Vax above her she managed to not spill off the side. Her antlers nearly gouged his cheek when doing so but they both managed to avoid injury. 

“What are you doing?” His hands deftly removed her headdress and he set it lovingly on the table next to the bed. 

While her attention had been off of him he moved around the room to find a hairbrush, comb, and several hair bands and other decorations and lay them nearby. Once he had her seated he sat down as well and began to fluff out her red waves with slim fingers. “You already know that I lived in Byroden with Vex and our mother. Until our father came to tear us from her and make our lives miserable that is. She would sing in the mornings when she made breakfast and at night to help us sleep. When we were about five Vex and I both had long hair. I think by that time it was past our shoulder blades.” With gentle blunted nails he massaged her scalp in circles starting from her forehead and back along the sides of her head. 

Keyleth leaned into his touch and though her chest felt wild and dark she wanted to listen to him. His hands felt so nice on her head. Like a cat she nudged upward into his hands and settled back against the bed.

“Most of the other boys had shorter hair as such was the life of our village. They would help with the farm and the pastures and long hair would only get in the way of that. Our mother loved our hair and so she refused to cut mine.” He made another pass down the middle now and her hair lay in a strange puffed mess but it was something he would fix later. Another pass along her temples had the back of his hand brush without meaning to along her pointed ears. Without his heightened perception he would have missed the briefest inhale at the sensation from her lips but continued on. He could still see some tension in her shoulders and feel it in the air still when he continued on, “It wasn’t as if they would particularly care what our mother did with us. Half elves are common enough and we were fine and well behaved children. So she would brush our hair almost every day until we were old enough to that part on our own. She put us in matching braids at first but after too many people mistook us for each other she changed the way she dressed our hair.” Vax began at the ends of her hair and though it wasn’t too long this was easiest for him. The brush climbed up at each pass and seemed to make the vengeful beast housed in her chest to uncurl from it’s aggressive stance, little by little. Soon the brush passed the entirety of her locks freely and he put it aside for the comb to make doubly sure it was ready and he could part it.

“I think my mother used to do something with my hair too.” She mumbled while her eyes flitted shut and passively blinked while she listened.

Vax smiled gently with a little pain embedded within, “Mothers are good for that I think. But then when we were ten our father took us and we weren’t allowed to have a choice. Off to Syngorn we went.” He started then at her temple to part her hair with practiced strokes. “You know much of our trouble there. Vex took it more harshly than I did but she always was the loudest of us.”

“Yeah.” Keyleth mumbled as she felt the pull of Vax’s fingers. Gentle tugs as her hair folded and dipped in a hypnotic rhythm while the beast calmed fully and vanished. 

“She had a harder time and one night when all she could do seemed to be weep I sat her up and started to sing to her because I couldn’t bear to see her sadness. I sang one of my mother’s songs and found a brush and had her sit next to me on the bed.” He twisted the complicated braid up and pinned it in place, then started with the other side. “It helped to remember her. To remember home when I started to brush out her hair and remembered the way my mother would braid it. I wasn’t very good at it at first but I got better with practice.” Though he didn’t say if expressly Keyleth knew it must have meant more tears and sleepless nights. Lessons and a standoffish parent who didn’t seem to want them near him but wouldn’t send them away. “Sometimes the hardest nights after we left Syngorn she would ask me to braid her hair with her blue feathers and I would because I love her.” Vax finished his knots and let the masterpiece of braids fall to her neck. “I love you and I don’t wish for you to lose yourself in this. Raishan will get hers. We will make sure of it. Until that time comes, you must be patient. My sister and I are so close as well to our goal. Our vengeance but time has cooled our anger in a way yours has not.” 

Vax slipped off the bed and pulled Keyleth to her feet. The druid followed him after he pulled her antlers from the table. 

When she stood in front of the mirror, her eyes widened. It looked like a crown almost along the sides, twisted and rolled to make a sort of veil down to her shoulders and when he placed the antlers on her head with a look of such pride and adoration she blinked back tears with the sudden wake of helplessness and guilt. “I forgot in my anger about Thordak and your mother. You must think I’m selfish.” She looked a little like a real princess and the child in her wanted to spin around in a circle to see if the little dangling pieces would stay in place.

“No. Never. You are so very good, Keyleth, and I understand what is is to have something so close and yet can not act. I promise you we will have both dragons’ lives. We don’t even know if she can be trusted enough to do as she’s bargained so all this waiting may be for nothing.” 

“I know.” Keyleth felt so tired all at once and Vax pulled her into his arms. His chin rested on her shoulder and he pressed a kiss to her neck chaste and gentle while they stared in the mirror. 

“Will you teach me?” 

“What?” 

“If it doesn’t hurt you I think I would like to learn how to fix your hair too.” 

Vax smiled and pulled her back tighter into his embrace, “It wouldn’t hurt me as long as you didn’t pull my hair. I've got a sensitive scalp you know.” 

“Okay. You sit.” Keyleth grinned and he sighed before he took up her position on the floor. She took off her antlers and picked up the brush and comb. “Okay.” With wide eyed excitement she ran her hands through his dark locks and giggled at the softness.

Over the next half hour and much trial and error at the art of over and under she had a loose and lopsided hairstyle completed. Vax laughed at how utterly ridiculous he looked and the pride of such achievement on Keyleth’s face he couldn’t bear to disappoint. So he didn’t. 

Instead he tackled her atop the bed with a lunge and she giggled and writhed as he tickled her sides until she couldn’t breathe. Later when he had her wrapped in his arms asleep he vowed his own vengeance on the Deceiver for the sweet druid in his embrace. Soon enough this would all be finished one way or another. Tomorrow they would kill one dragon. Maybe even two.

He looked over to where his cloak rested on the dresser next to her armor. A thousand years of her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This sort of exploded out of me. It's a little sadder and not as much of the excitement of the first chapter but I want to build up the intimacy. I hope I'm still doing a good job with the two of them. The next chapter will have some more positive happy stuff. 
> 
> For me someone cutting my hair or washing it or playing with it is very soothing and so I sort of translated that here. :) There could be another chapter tomorrow if I'm of a mood. Thanks for reading!


	3. The Siege of Emon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The night before Thordak did not inspire much rest but they would try their best to get something from the night between them.

It hadn’t gone horribly. It hadn’t gone well but at least no one died. No one died. Vax fell but no one died. Tomorrow. Tomorrow they could die. Vax, Vex, Scanlan, Percy, Grog, Pike...Zahra and Kash could all just not exist tomorrow. Keyleth couldn’t stop the cascade of negative thoughts as they clamored around her skull. They had a plan. It wasn’t foolproof and everything that could go wrong would go wrong as soon as it began. They even had to deal with Raishan again after her assistance with Vorugal. She would betray them. They all knew it. They should have just killed the green dragon when they had the chance.

Her fingers pressed to closed lips while she resisted the urge to bite her nails while she paced outside next to the Sun Tree. She thought it would be good to come here and think but the more she walked alone the more she wanted to be with him. 

Before true darkness her feet led her to their room where she opened the door and closed it softly. She turned to find Vax sitting on the edge of the bed with the Dragon Slayer Longsword across his lap. 

He looked up at her as she shut the door and Keyleth couldn’t identify the emotion she found there. “Hey Kiki.” He looked back down at the long sword and she noticed the way he swallowed while his hand ghosted over the blade. “What do you think?” 

“I think it’s a fine sword. I think you will wield it well.” The truth seemed easiest and with it she could avoid bowling him over with her worry. 

“Tomorrow. Tomorrow we’ll face the dragon-- Thordak-- the dragon who destroyed our home. The mad Cinder King with an indestructible gem in his chest. Someone is likely to die in the attempt.”

“No.” She whispered into the space between them. “No one is dying. We have to make sure of it.” 

Vax turned back to her with a small sad smile and stood with sword in hand. He reached over to where he placed the scabbard and sheathed the blade before he placed it with the rest of his armor and daggers. When he turned to her he held arms open for her and she wasted no time in burying her body as close to his as she could. It could have been minutes or seconds for how long they stood wrapped in each other. 

His scent. The armor couldn’t rid him of the smell of his skin as she inhaled it. Sweat surely, musk and a little something she couldn’t name. Home. Each drag of him into her senses calmed her racing mind and fast beating heart so she could think. So it wasn’t all this jumbled mess of nothing and everything. 

Vax did the same. The smell of the forest, the earth, the faint taste of rain in the air before a storm built up his confidence in their plan. “I love you.” He breathed into her skin and she tightened her grip on him.

“I love you too. You can’t die.” 

He pulled back to find her eyes glassy and shimmering with tears. “Hey. Hey. No one’s dying. No tears for problems we have yet to face, yeah?” He lifted his hand to brush along her cheekbone littered with freckles. Places the sun kissed her skin and left it’s mark. A single track fell down and he brushed that away too before he leaned in to place a firm kiss on her forehead. 

“Yeah.” A little garbled from a tightened throat with sudden emotion. 

He pulled back and met her gaze before she pulled him back and kissed him. It was a chaste meeting of lips until it wasn’t. Until she pressed him back into the dresser with her emotion and fevered embrace. She wanted to do as much as they could before tomorrow. She felt like this would be it. Would be the last time they could embrace, lie together, and love each other before it all would end. 

Vax could give in. He wanted to give in to this storm of a woman and he knew her intention from the way her fists clenched in his shirt and the press of her onto him. He knew her thoughts as he echoed them silently. But instead reason won out and the romantic in him didn’t want their first time to be because she thought there wouldn’t be any later between them. He wanted it soft and slow and to build her up without the threat of death between them. To treat her like the precious thing she was and to have her learn about him as well and what he enjoyed. This would be tainted and he refused to have that. With a firm grasp of her shoulder he pulled her back from him. 

The flush to her cheeks and the way her pupils dilated with parted lips and hungry gaze nearly took his resolve again but he gave her a firm but tender stare, “Not tonight, Kiki.”

“Why?” It came out a whine instead of a word.

“There will be more time for us. Years for us. It will not be some hurried thing. Some last minute decision because of fear of death. I have plans, Keyleth. Grand plans to do this properly and I won’t have them ruined now, yeah? Besides if we do not cross this bridge now then you have something to look forward to for after. A fine victory prize.” 

“But--,” Keyleth let the disappointment fall across her before she nodded. “You’re right. I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“Yes you do. How about we do something else instead, hmm? We’re both tense and likely to sleep horribly tonight. Pick a scent to burn and I’ll teach you how to give a massage, alright?” 

“I know how to massage.” She grumbled in reply.

“Hush.” He chided before she sighed and did as he asked. When the lavender stick she pulled burned lightly with a wisp of smoke in the air she turned to find him on the bed flat with a pillow under his head and arms. “That’s a good one. Now here.”

Keyleth removed her antlers and set them down, then her skirt and armor to place nearby. Only clad in the underclothes she preferred she climbed atop the bed next to him. Without prompting her hands found themselves atop the flesh of his neck over the next half hour or so she used the techniques she learned from healers in her tribe to press and manipulate the muscles and bone of his neck, shoulders and stroked tender fingers down his spine and sides. When she dug into his lower back he let a soft sound of relief pass into the pillow. Keyleth smirked with pride as she kneaded the sore flesh. Several times her hand passed over the healed burn scar of her handprint. Some possessive, dark thing coiled tight in her chest when she did. Her mark. He was hers and she was his and nothing would change that. “Gods, Kiki. You do know how to give a massage. This feels divine.” He praised her and she preened with it and continued until he reached slowly behind him to grasp her wrist, “Enough. Any more and I’ll fall asleep without giving you anything.” 

“I wouldn’t care. I like taking care of you like this. It’s soothing.” It was. She felt as relaxed as he did now and closer to him than usual. “You do so much for me already.” 

“And I’ll do more yet. Lie down.” 

It was hard to argue with him and when she took up his position she felt his warm hands above her clothing and sighed into the pillow when dextrous fingers push and pulled sore, tight muscles around her neck. His hands were so warm and soft. She wanted them everywhere at once. When he pressed down into a place in the middle of her back she felt a pop and sudden surge of endorphins as something in her back shifted into place. 

“One of our fights must have knocked something out of place. Did that hurt?” 

“No.” She replied sleepily. “Good.” It almost felt as if she were sailing high above Zephyr and the weightlessness which accompanied it.

“Good.” Though she couldn’t see him she knew the smile of his words. “This is supposed to feel good.” 

“Yep. It’s working.” 

“Think about how this would feel if you were drunk.”

Keyleth’s eyes snapped open and she inhaled sharply, “Yes. Drunk.” 

Vax barked a laugh and his hands flattened on her back as he shook, “You ridiculous thing. We’ll have to do this again with alcohol then won’t we?” 

“Why wouldn’t we? It sounds amazing.” 

“Fair point.” Instead of the pressure she felt his palms slide up and down her back in circles and straight lines in an alternating pattern to further lull her closer to slumber. Her eyelids began to feel heavy as her eyes burned. “But it’s getting late and we have much to do tomorrow.” 

“I know.” 

“We have a battle to win and a city to reclaim.” 

“Tomorrow.” She sighed and flipped back over. Vax pressed a kiss to her lips as he lowered his body to rest on the bed next to hers and nestled into the place just under her neck to breath across her chest while he tried to sleep. He felt Keyleth’s hand in his hair stroking until the rhythm soothed him into a mostly restful sleep. 

It was a while longer before she found rest of her own with her hand buried in his hair as if to keep him with her no matter what.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Look at me getting a chapter out a day. This doesn't usually happen with me. It can't last so ride the wave as much as you can. I've gotten such a great response from something I didn't think was really all that good. But I love this little story. And I'm glad so many of you like it too. :) 
> 
> My muse enjoys feedback as well so that helps keep the idea train moving. The next one is likely to be after the Aramente because there isn't much downtime from Thordak to then though it might be after Raishan.


	4. Accidental Observations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keyleth sees something she ought not to and Vax makes her feel better even if he doesn't know what it was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit of mature content in the beginning but not between our two lovebirds. Very brief and not very detailed.

Keyleth felt too exhausted both mentally and physically to do much more than soak in the bath as she contemplated everything that had happened in the past few days. 

The victory of Raishan’s demise, the way she had taken the one thing the dragon prided so much and ground it into dust. As brilliant and cunning as she constantly reminded everyone she was the green dragon had died an idiot. No smarter than the lowest of the animals she looked down upon. Keyleth still hadn’t believed it worked. 

Percy’s still form flashed in her mind, the way his innards spilled out of his belly onto the floor and the blood soaked into his coat and armor. The horror of it still gripped her heart coldly. And Scanlan. How Vax held him close on their way back, the ritual...and their travel to Vasselheim to bury the ashes of Senokir’s wife in the Abundant Terrace to honor her. The moral dilemma she faced with the Spire of Conflux. Still a little guilty about that one. 

Scanlan’s awakening and the way he tore into them as if they didn’t love him like family. The way he abandoned them. Were they such awful people? 

Especially so after meeting Taryon Darrington. She didn’t even know how to begin to dissect that man though his calling Vex a little elf girl certainly didn’t help him at all but his initiation was a bit fun in the end so that had to count for something.

Keyleth let the water around her cool and didn’t bother to try to heat it up again so instead rose up and used a towel to dry and a robe around her body after she dressed. 

As she walked down the hall toward her room a strange noise caught her attention and she, despite her better judgement, followed it. 

“Percy!” Vex’s voice echoed from a mostly open doorway. Low light flickered in the dark hallway and she approached carefully even though a little voice in her head warned her otherwise. 

She wasn’t prepared for the sight that greeted her. Not at all.

Vex was naked but faced away from Keyleth’s gaze with her long hair unbound in waves down her back, her rounded bottom held by strong pale hands on either side. The young druid’s cheeks warmed as her gaze locked on exactly what they were doing. Vex sat with her knees parted on either side of Percy’s shoulders with her...parts situated over what looked like Percy’s mouth. Her friend seemed not to mind it in the least bit either.

His chest and arms pale and gleamed with lean muscle in the low light and Keyleth stared agape at the thin sheet covering his lower half with a sizable rise near the middle. 

“Gods. Percy. There. You’re doing so well. Good boy.” Vex moaned out as she rolled her hips and Keyleth spotted the way her knuckles flashed white while she dug fingers into the headboard with stuttered breaths. 

Percy, muffled, moaned and shifted under her as his hands tightened and Vex gave another cry, higher pitched, faster….

Keyleth came back to herself and stumbled back from the doorway breathless and heart racing, pounding in her chest. She could hear them still as Vex cried out his name again in the longest keen yet. 

Keyleth couldn’t breathe and she was sure her face would catch flame any moment now. Her lower belly felt strange. Warmer than it ever had before and as if there was a pulse there she wasn’t aware of until just now. Between her thighs where usually she felt a pleasant warmth now it throbbed and burned and she thought of Vax. Then of the noises she had never heard before from Vex and the...thing they did. She thought Scanlan might have mentioned something about eating before. Did people really put their mouths there? Vex seemed to enjoy it. 

Another flash of mortification pulsed through her as she fled to her room but stopped before she entered. Her face still felt too hot and her skin tingled strangely. Vax would know something was wrong. She couldn’t bear the idea of telling him what she had seen between Percy and his sister. No. Not going to happen. Maybe she would take a walk. A cool walk to calm down. And erase the images in her mind. What she wouldn’t give for a Modify Memory spell from...oh now she was sad. 

“Kiki? What are you doing out here?” 

She hadn’t heard him. Of course she hadn’t and now she was sad and felt funny and she didn’t know what to do. “Oh. Vax. Hey. Um. I’m just standing here outside our room for no reason at all.” 

“I can see that. Did you get lost then?” 

“No. Umm. I didn’t.”

His gaze narrowed on her, “What’s happened?” 

“N-nothing. Nothing’s happened. I have no idea what you’re talking about. I just had a bath is all. Didn’t see anything or hear anything at all.” That wasn’t suspicious at all. He would totally see right through her. Her blush returned with a vengeance as her mind supplied visuals she could do without. 

“Uh-huh. Well how about you come to bed then?” 

“Sure. I can do that.” Keyleth nodded and let him bring her into the room. 

Vax stared at her for a while longer. The redness to freckled cheeks, and the way she looked everywhere but at him made him want to go through the halls and find exactly what she hadn’t seen but he thought better of it. Instead he ushered her to sit on the bed while he fetched a comb and settled behind her to groom her shortened hair. 

It was a sore spot of hers since it happened and he continued to look for bad ends to cut from her hair. The burns had healed up nearly without scarring much to their relief. At least he hadn’t been awake when she had fallen into the lava. He might have fainted from the sight and smell of her burning flesh.

“You don’t have to.” 

“I want to. Let me take care of you, Kiki.”

“You’re sure you like it this way? It was so pretty when you braided it from before.” 

“I’ll cut my own hair so we can match if you’d like.” 

Keyleth jerked the comb from his grasp as she whipped around with a look of horror, “No. You can’t.” 

Vax chuckled and kissed the tip of her nose before he turned her back around and continued his work on her short hair. “Well then stop saying such ridiculous things or I will. I like you. Love you even and I don’t care how long your hair is. I can still play with it.” 

Keyleth smiled as he ran his fingers through the trimmed waves and skittered his fingers down her back after he finished. Another image of pale hands, strong and steady, flashed through her and she shifted in her seat while she imagined Vax’s hands instead. They were different, his fingers longer than Percy’s. She wondered how they would feel on her in that way.

“Copper for your thoughts.” 

The whispered words caressed her sensitive ears while she was pulled from her fantasy   
when she gasped with reddened cheeks but didn’t answer and instead wrung fingers together.

“Alright. What do you think of our newest temporary member?” She obviously didn’t feel like talking about it and so he decided not to push the matter yet but the curiosity burned still within.

“He’s not Scanlan.” She mumbled out.

“Definitely not Scanlan.”

“Do you think he’ll be back?” Keyleth twisted a little length of hair in front of her ear nervously.

“I think he will. He just needs time.” Vax set down the comb and pulled her back to his chest to sit on his lap. “So. Are we really going to finish this quest of yours? Finally?” 

“Yeah.” She nodded with more confidence than she truly felt. 

He wrapped his arms around her middle and rested his forehead on her back. “Good.” He grinned. “At least it won’t be a dragon. I’ve had enough of those to last me a lifetime.” 

“Me too.” 

“You’ll do amazing at whatever trial they give you. You know that, right?”

“As long as I have you all with me, sure.” 

“Even without us.” He kissed her back through the shirt and nuzzled his nose up to her neck and placed a chaste kiss just below her hairline. A shiver passed through her while goosebumps erupted on her back and arms. Vax only grinned and did it again. This time she breathed out a small laugh, then he did it again and again until she squealed with laughter and struggled to break his grasp but he held on just long enough to have her nearly out of breath. “Feel better?” He chuckled as she recovered on her side away from him. 

“That was not nice.” But she did feel better and back to normal. The embarrassment at accidentally witnessed intimacy faded with his playful nature.

“I thought it was plenty nice. I could have done much worse than kiss you.” 

Keyleth opened her mouth to answer before she blushed again and bit her lip. “I guess.” Is what she finally breathed out while he hopped up to use the adjacent washroom and lavatory sort of thing in the small room next to theirs. When he came back to bed she had the covers pulled up to her chin like always and he slid next to her. His body fit perfectly next to hers as the exhaustion caught up with the both of them to recover for the next days ahead.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey so. This is going to be more than 5 chapters. Sigh. I'm having such fun and I don't want it to end but I have to be careful because I'm only up to episode 93 right now and I have to make my way through them in order to write well. Plus I have to go back to work tomorrow and it tends to drain me and my free time so there may or may not be a chapter tomorrow night but I hope to have one done perhaps by Tuesday or Wednesday. 
> 
> This is so much fun. And it's so fluffy and stupidly sappy and it makes me giggle but don't you worry. I've got plans for these two sappy idiots and the quest to end in romantic lovemaking...soon but not too soon. Vesrah is nexxxxt. (Wings ftw)


	5. Nighttime Flight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "We have one hour".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some fun time in this chapter. Be prepared. :)

Vax stood in the hut in all his glory and the shadow of his wings spanned the small area before her. 

Eyes wide she reached out with a childish sound of eagerness as her hand brushed the tips gently. 

“We have one hour.” 

Keyleth smiled wider as she pressed her other hand into the proffered black wing, “It’s so soft.” The caresses gentle as she swept the tip of each finger across the top down to the base of them. The feathers were immaculate and preened better than any bird in nature she had witness to and each feather tip had sharp edge but did no damage when she stroked it. 

When she pressed her cheek into the wing and nuzzled into it Vax reached over to her then stroked her shoulder with a single finger as well. 

Keyleth always enjoyed rubbing soft things or things she thought were soft. Vax’s hair, Garmelie (Artagan's) fur, and now the wings. Vax pulled her away from the wing to embrace her in warm arms. Keyleth’s lips met Vax’s with bright eyes and flushed cheeks as he then wrapped her up in the dark pinions.

Keyleth leaned back into the cool press of the feathers and the parts of her flesh open to the air were stroked by the gentle adjustments he had to make to keep her contained. 

“I wish they stayed forever.” 

“Fifty five minutes, Kiki. Is this all you want to do?”

“No.” 

Flying was nothing new to the young Air Ashari woman. She controlled winds from the time she was a child, rode the highest peaks on currents of icy air, and could turn into birds to experience the joy of it. 

Nothing could compare to him when he pulled her outside and onto his back. His thighs tensed as he bent and flapped once before they were airborne. The warm sea air rushed past until they rose high enough to avoid it. 

She sat astride his lower back as she opened her arms to the air to feel it whip around her. Laughter swallowed by the roar of wind as they flew steadily forward. Keyleth dropped her arms as they flew upward into the dark night. She studied the place where it almost seemed like the wings met the skin of his back but it was only an illusion. Armor blanketed the space where the joints should be and she couldn’t help her tactile curiosity as she pressed and manipulated the place there. “Can you feel that?” 

“No.” He looked back with a smile. “But you can.” 

“Yes.” Keyleth nodded as her hands swept up from the illusionary joint and along the spine of them on either side. She remained with legs locked firmly around his middle and his armored wrists and hands to help her keep steady with the wing beats. She pressed her front into his back while her arms moved with the beat of his wings. Up and down, up and down, in and out, in and out and she breathed slowly almost the way she did when she had to meditate and all the while the soft feathers brushed exposed arms in a way that made her skin perpetually tingle. 

Vax used his hands to stroke up and down what he could reach of the flesh of her knees. Her being so lithe and light certainly helped keep him aloft as he circled and weaved through and around the islands while she relaxed. 

She might have taken a nap or gone so deep into her meditation it could have been a sleep as he coasted down back to the village when he felt the enchantment begin to slip. Keyleth rose up from his back and every nerve ending in her arms felt alight with excitement. When he pulled her back into the hut they shared she seemed oddly invigorated. 

“Vax. Help me take off the armor?” Only Keyleth could make a command sound like a question. 

“Certainly.” He almost decided to ask why but thought better of it when he noticed the intense expression in the darkness. 

She knew how to remove his armor. It had taken some time to learn all the buckles and straps but she insisted upon it just in case they had to take it off if he were ever injured. Slowly the black leather loosened and she pulled it off his frame to rest it atop a dresser. Thinking that was the end he opened his arms up to her. He wanted to ask if she were pleased but instead her hands went to his belt buckle as she began to undo it with practiced fingers. This was a surprise. His leggings fell to the floor and she glared down at his boots. 

Curious now more than ever he removed his boots himself afraid of what she would do to them but didn’t know why. He stood in just a shirt and leggings to protect his skin from the armor chafing. Well. No shirt now. 

He lifted his arms above his head and let her undress him to his cloth leggings. Keyleth pulled the curtains in front of the windows and lit a few candles inside so their cabin was lit in a pale glow. 

It lent shadows to places on his body there ought not to be but he stood relaxed in front of her with an eyebrow cocked upward. Keyleth reached forward and pressed her fingertips on his forehead with such a feather light touch he almost couldn’t feel it. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she her arm and hand moved downward still with the lightest touch down the side of his cheek, across his nose and back down to his chin. Her hand lifted as she pressed the tips to his lips. Petal soft against slightly calloused fingers then down to his chin. 

She lifted her hand again and a look of indecision and he parted his lips to ask questions when she placed her hand down again to his neck. Her entire palm now rested atop his throat. The words died on his tongue and he swallowed reflexively. She felt the motion of his adam’s apple shift on her palm as she lifted up again to trace two fingers down the left side of his neck and down his shoulder with arms down at his sides. Keyleth moved then and slid around to his back to resume her gentle path down his body. First his upper back in a nearly random pattern. Without his sight to guide him in preparation of her strange ritual everything seemed heightened and wherever she stroked next buzzed low level until his entire back lit up with timid sensation. Another movement from the corner of his eye and she was back to his front again. 

Though he had stood in one place for so long he didn’t feel tired yet and even if he did there was no way he was going to break this spell. This gentle, timid, innocent curiosity of something Keyleth had never done before. 

Now he could see her. The way she pulled her bottom lip just a little into her teeth while she studied his skin as if she had never seen it before. And even though this was not at all sexual just the proximity of her to him and the look in her eyes stirred something below his waist though not enough for her to notice yet as long as he kept a tight rein on it. 

Four fingertips now traced down a pectoral and skirted around the nipple there. A heartbeat later her other hand joined in on the other side. Down his ribs and across his lean belly. The muscles jumped when she drew her hands across them and he let out a breath of laughter. Her lip curled mischievously as she looked at him out of the corner of her eye but didn’t do it again. Instead her hands drew back up his body and to his shoulders, down his arms in a circular pattern. When her journey ended at his fingers she laced them together and pulled his knuckles up for a kiss. Greedily he tried to pull her in for a proper kiss and she held back with a stern look and unlaced her hands from his. Her hands settled atop his shoulders and this time on her way down she tipped hands downward and nails pressed lightly along his chest and right over both nipples. They tightened almost instantly and he had to smother a gasp as arousal shot right through him as deadly as any of Freddie’s bullets. 

The nails continued down his ribs to end at his waistline and her gaze slid downward with her hands until they stopped at his lower belly. Keyleth’s eyes widened while she stared at what was now a large bulge in his pants. Not full by any means but not easily hidden. 

Her gaze traveled back up to meet his and she seemed to be thinking of something before she decided on whatever it was and he felt the grip of her fists on the sides of his pants before she tugged downward. Vax really wasn’t sure what exactly her goal was but didn’t stop her as she sidestepped to pull down from the back. Slowly, painfully the cloth slid over heated, hard skin and fell in a pool around his ankles.

He flinched as warm hands spread along his lower back to press into the base of his spine before she trailed them down over his glutes. Full palms instead of fingertips. Goosebumps peppered the entirely of his exposed back and shoulders just as the sensation wrapped around his belly and lower. Unexpectedly once she reached the base of his ass she squeezed the firm flesh once as if testing it and continued downward. He still couldn’t see her properly as she lifted palms from the backs of his thighs and fingers trailed downward to the backs of his knees, then the front. It tickled a little as his foot twitched and she finished her slow meander downward. Every single second an eternity of exquisite sensational agony. When he felt the air shift and her body came into view again he turned a little to meet her. Keyleth pulled back from him to trail her gaze from his hair slowly down the rest of his body and he felt it as surely as her hands. His erection throbbed painfully when she came to it again then further down. There was something else there now. A sort of warmth he had seen before but in small increments. Desire. Innocent and curious, but desire nonetheless. 

There was a ridiculous urge to cover his cock from her intense scrutiny and he squashed it flat. He had never been ashamed or shy of his body and he would not start now. Instead he pulled up tall and proud to stare her full on. 

Like a shadow she slipped forward again and knelt down slowly. Vax’s hand shot out to stop her, “Kiki?” 

She turned her gaze up to him wide and soft in the torchlight once more and after a few moments of silent communication between them he eased up and let her land on her knees. It put her face to face-- so to speak-- with the part of his anatomy she hadn’t actually seen up close and personal in this state. 

She sat a good foot away from his cock and studied it intently as he barely thought to breathe. In fact, he began to feel a little lightheaded just before she shifted and her hand moved upward ever so slowly until the tips of her fingers touched the skin of his groin so lightly he wasn’t actually sure if he were imagining it. Keyleth pulled her lower lip between her teeth and stroked down the shaft. 

A flame roared to life from the soft touch and threatened to burn him to a husk. Finally. Touch. 

“It’s so soft.” She stroked again and his entire body throbbed with the beat of blood through it. “Like deer antlers in spring. Velvet.” 

He was going to die. But at least it would be a happy death. 

Too late he realized exactly what she planned to do. He had seen it many times when she felt a texture she enjoyed with her hands. Something she had just done with his wings.

Before he could stop her she leaned forward and rubbed her cheek against his cock to feel the softness one more way and his knee jerked as a groan exploded from his chest. Another sharp throb and he hardened more if possibly at the rush of blood as it pounded through him. Keyleth immediately released him and he could have wept. 

“I’m sorry. Did I hurt you?” Eyes wide now in a different way as a look of guilt quickly too the place of eager exploration.

“No.” His voice shook a little while he inhaled, “It just surprised me.”

“You look like it hurts.” 

“It’s not pain. Exactly.” 

“Can I help?” His sweet Kiki. 

“It would depend.” He inhaled again as it throbbed in time with his heartbeat. 

Keyleth reached forward again and wrapped her entire hand around his girth. The light squeeze she gave it had his hips rock forward just a little bit. “It’s so hard. And big. Are you sure it doesn’t hurt?” 

“You say the sweetest things, Keek.” Big. He smiled. He was average for a half elven male maybe a little girthier but average and from the dubious look she gave to it as she held it he knew what she must be thinking just as he would have told her not to worry she moved her hand up and down and the words dried up in his throat and the sound from the abandoned word eeked out in a whimper. 

He should stop her. He really should stop her. She didn’t have any idea what she was doing and it wasn’t fair of him to let her do this. Her hand moved again up and down over the tip of him covered by foreskin and back down. 

In truth Keyleth held every ounce of bravery here she still possessed. On the boat ride here to Vesrah she sneaked a few books of what Scanlan would have referred to as smut from the library in Whitestone in her pack and read it in her spare time. The time she didn’t spend with Vax or her other friends after her accidental witness to Vex and Percy’s intimacy with her interest peaked in how it all worked. She was tired of being the only one who didn’t understand and she didn’t want to disappoint Vax either. It wasn’t like she felt really horny or anything but after the flight she felt brave. There were so many scars on his body she didn’t think she had ever laid eyes on. And even his...cock...looked pretty. Long and firm and unexpectedly soft. Her blush flared to life again as she remembered the way her it felt on her cheek. And now Vax blushed and his chest rose and fell like he was trying to keep things under control and failing a little. And the way his dark gaze consumed her as she stroked up and down his shaft made her want to do it more. 

So she did. 

The words spilled forth before she could stop them, “Tell me what you like, Vax.” Her voice seemed huskier and thicker from the saliva which pooled that she had to swallow down. 

Another whine escaped him and he was lost to her, “Fuck. Kiki. Keep going. Just keep doing that. Harder. Anything. You can do anything to me. You can even leave me here like this if you want to.” He moaned when her grip tightened and at thrill shot through her at his answer. Another sharp whine as his nostrils flared and now he had to breath through his mouth and nose while he trembled. So much effort to stay still and he felt like he was flying again. Blood pounded behind his temples but not painfully while pressure; white hot and simmering, pooled in his belly and the base of his spine. 

Where had this creature come from? Who was the seductress who wore his Keyleth’s face? 

His thighs shook, “Kiki.” He breathed out and her gaze snapped up to him, “Bed.” He articulated as best he could and she released him. With as much brain power as he could muster he bolted for the bed before he fell to the ground. The sheets felt almost too much against skin burned as he fell to his back. The pressure on his skull tunneled his keen vision especially when her hand came back as she sat on the bed and took up the slower pace. “Faster. Kiki.” 

Her rhythm was uncoordinated but it didn’t matter. His poor neglected cock didn’t care as her hand rolled faster, tighter and he thrust into her hand softly with what remained of his restraint while his hands fisted in the sheets and his back bowed up while he groaned a broken version of her name. His unfocused eyes pinned to her face as much as he could while she gazed back at him then her hand.

Keyleth kept going. He looked so beautiful now as he stretched and panted and even though she still felt powerful there was a sense of caution. She had never seen Vax so out of control and so unable to voice his thoughts as if this consumed him. She thought back to Vex and the way she seemed lost as well. If this was what pleasure did to you then Keyleth had to be careful. Her power could hurt him if she lost control like this but she loved the way his skin glistened with sweat and the noises that poured from his mouth and the way his muscled thighs and belly trembled with it. His pleasure. This was his pleasure made real. 

There wasn’t a reason for it except she wanted to know if he tasted differently like this when she leaned forward and kissed him messily with teeth and tongue as his hand wrapped up in her hair while the other continued to fist the sheets. All the while her tired hand and wrist kept going until his back bowed and he gave the deepest groan yet while the tension in his groin finally finally snapped and waves of ecstasy pounded through his body. Vax shuddered and rolled and trembled as it poured through him a sharp as a bolt of lightning and just as intense. He had to take her hand from him as the final beats of it fled from him in what could have been seconds or minutes. His chest heaved with exertion as he kissed her again almost boneless with relief. 

She stared down at him then down his body to find his belly and a little of her hand coated with his release. The thick white substance glimmered in the torchlight as she brought her hand up to lap at it and instantly wrinkled her nose in distaste. 

As he recovered and stared at the ceiling she retrieved a cloth to clean him up and wipe her hands. “Was that okay?”

His head turned slowly in her direction, “Okay? That was fucking fantastic, Kiki. You’re so amazing. I love you so much.” Sluggish praise poured from satisfied lips and with a wide arc he managed to catch her arm and tugged her down for another soft, slow kiss filled with rapturous adoration. She brought a hand up to rest on his chest as she sunk into him for the unhurried embrace before he released her. 

“Hehehe.” She grinned with pride down at him but the atmosphere felt different now and Keyleth didn’t know what to do now. Do they cuddle? Should she help him get pants on? She already cleaned him up a bit and now everything seemed back to normal. They should probably get some sleep for the final step of her Aramente tomorrow. The warmth in her belly now simmered to coals and she started to sit up to get her clothes off when Vax’s arms wrapped around her and hauled her back as the wet caress of his mouth pressed into the space under her ear. 

“You’ve gotten to explore. I think it’s my turn now.” The husky notes sent a spark through her body but she wasn’t sure what to do with it. 

So she did the first thing that came to mind and panicked, “I think we should just go to sleep. There is a lot to do tomorrow and I don’t want anything bad to happen because we didn’t get enough sleep you know?” 

The last syllable faded into the low light of the room and Vax let out a slow breath and pressed a close lipped kiss to her neck. “Alright. If that’s what you wish.” Disappointment and guilt settled low in his belly. She seemed so keen on his enjoyment but didn’t want him to return the favor. Maybe she needed a little more time to adjust to the idea of intimacy with her body. He wouldn’t push her but the gentleman in him screamed that now they were uneven. He always found a way to get his partners off at least once during their time together. He prided himself on it. But he let her undress to her nightclothes and he found and pulled back on his pants though he felt as ungainly as a newborn foal when he walked. When he settled into bed behind Keyleth he wrapped his arm around her middle and she turned to kiss him goodnight with all her usual affection before she snuggled into his embrace to rest. Vax simmered with unrest even while Keyleth’s breathing evened out into deep sleep though eventually he did allow the relaxed exhaustion of a proper orgasm to claim him eventually. They did have a lot to do tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. This one took me two nights. Like 6 hours which is weird cause I normally whip these out in like 2 hours. I had a lot of trouble with the beginning and then I wanted to stop before the smut but Keyleth didn't want to stop and so this is like twice as long as usual. It will slow down a bit after this for a chapter then pick back up. 
> 
> I'm not sure how I feel about this so let me know if its too off. I want to make sure I know for later. 
> 
> Hopefully I get the next one out on Wednesday night if not it will be before the weekend! Please let me know if you enjoyed this little gift of our favorite rogue/paladin. :) See you soon!


	6. I Failed You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the Kraken Battle and the resurrection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *looks at original note at bottom 'five chapters max'*
> 
> *looks at Chapter 6 in chapter index bar* 
> 
> *sigh. Who knows how long this is going to end up? Weeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!*

It had gone to shit. Like everything in their lives did at some point. The Kraken was a beast out of eldritch nightmares and there was a double edged blade in the fact that they couldn’t kill it but it seemed intent on ending their lives. Her mother had fought this thing...had been maybe killed by this thing...or not. Guilt swarmed her as she grabbed onto Vax’s unconscious body and Vex and plane shifted from the grasp of the creature. She just wanted to escape with two of the three people she loved the most and she did. She did. 

Until she didn’t. Until Vax wasn’t breathing. Until Vex tried to wake him up and found no response after she turned him over. His visage frozen in a thankfully blank look. Until her heart shattered on the seafloor and her entire body went cold and numb. Her stupid quest killed her Vax. It was simple to shift her body into the giant raven like bird they favored and fly with all speed to the city. Vex did all the talking. Keyleth couldn’t articulate words, couldn’t think past the way he was so still. Until she begged for help to bring Pike to them and found no one who could take her to Emon. Until Pike answered her call for help. Until they performed the ritual and finally saw the white face of the Raven Queen and it terrified her to her marrow. This was who would claim Vax eventually. This dark figure would have him but not after she was finished with him. Until she started to breathe again when his chest expanded with breath and he pulled her and his sister to him. 

Vax felt like shit. Literal shit. He now had a new appreciation for how Percy must have felt after his resurrection ritual even though Percy had been dead longer than he had. Everything ached in a way that was bone deep and he felt so fucking weak. And scared but that had nothing to do with the ritual and everything to do with his Patron goddess and the soreness on his chest. 

Something good had come of this entire fucking mess. His Kiki had finished her Aramente and she gained something amazing. She changed into a fucking dragon right in front of them and could do it now at will once a day. A fucking dragon. He wanted to devour her for the desire and pride he felt for her afterward but he didn’t think he had the stamina to give her anything proper and worthy of his affections but he wore the necklace she gave him with honor. 

Keyleth had hovered near Vax since his return and by the time night fell upon them after their celebration she helped him out of his armor now with gentleness back in their hut. Each strap carefully and calmly unfastened until he stood in his undershirt and pants but the energy in the air so much different than the last night. Everything was so much more broken now. Nothing of the joy and excitement remained of her adventure with his flesh. He had stood proud and strong here yesterday. Today he slumped over and his skin still remained pale as if the sun hadn’t touched it in months. Shadows lingered under his eyes which blinked sleepily as he stared at her. Keyleth lifted a hand to his cool cheek while he closed his eyes and leaned into the comforting touch. She used her other hand to pull him to the side of the bed and he went without a fight even when she removed his shirt and her fingers pressed gently into the sorest part of his chest. Her brow furrowed in concern and met his gaze as he smiled gently to reassure her that he was okay. In the next few heartbeats she had wrapped both arms around his body and his entire body quaked with her warmth while goosebumps peppered him from the sudden change in temperature. 

It was then when the events of the day broke over him in an unavoidable wave and eyes which were dry suddenly blurred as tears built up and poured from them as his shoulders quaked with soundless sobs. Vax buried his face into her shoulder and his whole body began to truly tremble as frail as a leaf in autumn. He had died. Really died. Like his sister had. Like Percy. And Scanlan. And She had been there to receive him. He was terrified of his charge. His goddess and what being her Champion meant. She was Death and she let him come back because there was more work to be done.

“Shhhh. It’s okay. I’ve got you.” She whispered into his ear and she rocked him side to side while he let go in the safety of her embrace. Tears ran down her cheeks as well but she soothed and stroked his bare back with both hands in circles to try to infuse some more solace and warmth into him. As much of herself as he needed she was willing to give to him even if it took forever. By the time he had finished he felt more drained and weak than before but his heart had lightened from some of the baggage he kept hidden. Keyleth noted absently that her shoulder felt wet and a little cool but she didn’t let him go until he pulled back.

“I love you.” He whispered. His voice cracked and husky and lacked the usual smoothness for which she knew him best. 

“I love you. So much. I’m so sorry I failed you.” She tried to keep her voice even but failed near the end.

He pulled back then and looked at her with such fierce alarm she drew away from him, “You did not fail me. You could never fail me. Things happened. As things always happen to us and I’m fine now. Fine. And you turned into a fucking dragon. Do you know how cool that is? How you could be more amazing than you already were. Never think you failed me. Okay? You did everything you could in the face of impossible odds.” Dark eyes searched hers and she could only nod with the intensity and felt his arms wrap around her. He felt warmer now and she pulled him closer still before he swayed on his feet. “I’m fucking exhausted. And I think I lost a tooth.” 

“Grog hit you pretty hard. I can’t believe he did that.” She was still a little pissed about that to be honest.

“I can.” Vax snorted and Keyleth led him to the bed as he crawled into it and collapsed on his side unable to hold his weight for long. She waited until he still and arranged the blankets over him as he watched her from the corner of his eye.

It was short work for her to discard her armor and crawl into bed with him. She pressed her front to his back then threw her arm over him in a way that screamed possession and protection. As if she could shield him from the horrible things that happened to them near daily anymore. He couldn’t seem to get warm but she helped. She always helped. Unconsciousness came easily to him in the form of sleep and in no time he started to snore softly. 

During the early evening after they had both fallen asleep they came to sudden consciousness when Tary’s automaton shifted into view and started writing rapidly on his paper as they pulled up the covers in confusion until he left. It was a little harder to get back to sleep after that but they managed to rest until morning and the start of a new day. Everyone was alive. That’s all that really mattered in the end.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a bit shorter but I had a super long one before this so it kind of evens out. A little angsty. A little sad. A lot of fluff. The next one will be longer and I won't start it until tomorrow. Well. I'm going to try to write while I watch the ONE SHOT OF THE PERC'AHLIA WEDDING!!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOOOOOOO! I probably won't get far but it's going to be a little more adult as well. So look for it on Friday night/Saturday morning probably. 
> 
> You guys are just so awesome with the feedback. I honestly wasn't sure how people would like this and I'm kind of blown away by the response. It really helps get me in the zone to write these adorable idiots and I love them. Thank you so much for the comments and kudos and everything. :) 
> 
> Keep riding the wave and as long as I'm pumped up to do this I'm probably going to keep going until there's a chapter a night or every other night until I think I've reached an end.


	7. To Hell and Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Voice of the Tempest to Hell and Back

She wasn’t avoiding him. Vax was sure of it. She still pressed next to him on the ship while they watched the sea waves in silence. She snuggled into his embrace at night like always and he got better. Better in the sense that he felt more steady now than he had when he saw the Raven Queen. When he was wrenched from her grasp by Pike and the love of his friends and family. By the second day at sea he felt restored to health. That night he pressed Keyleth down into the bed with eager playfulness and she obliged him with kisses but they lacked heat and passion. The only thing he could feel from her embrace was her constant love and adoration. It sobered him somewhat as he eased off of her and let her snuggle into his embrace as the boat rocked around them. 

Back in Emon at Greyskull keep he tried again when they arrived home and pressed his lips to her neck and cheek eager to show her his affections and she pulled and directed him back up to her mouth while she stroked at his shoulders and arms. Stiffness accompanied his hands down her back instead of the soft relaxation he anticipated. 

He pulled back and Keyleth made some excuse to leave the room. He didn’t hear what it was as he lay back against the headboard, confused and a little hurt. 

Vax thought back to her timid, curious exploration in Vesrah. The heat in her gaze when she explored his exposed flesh and the excitement when she had him on his back in the bed. When she brought him off like he was some inexperienced boy. Her body language screamed her interest. Maybe his death had thrown her off? Nothing else had changed between them so that had to be it, right. 

Keyleth entered the room again with a smile as she hopped into bed with him and laid her head on the dark spot on his chest to listen to the beat of his heart with a small smile. “I love you.” She whispered into his flesh. 

“I love you too, Kiki.” He brought his palm up to stroke her hair and down her back and she accepted the touch. Her entire body relaxed into the bed while he petted her and still he tried to puzzle out the conundrum of Keyleth. 

When they traveled to Zephrah and Keyleth accepted her new role as the Voice of the Tempest Vax had never been prouder of her. The way she stood tall and proud before the tree as it blossomed and the song that pulsed through the very earth he smiled and couldn’t wait to hold her again. 

In fact it was Keyleth who pinned him to the doorway with a kiss that night and he couldn’t help the pulse of excitement as it rolled through him when she did so. He helped with eager hands to remove his armor and she kissed and kissed him while they stood together. Her lips pressed to the softer skin of his cheek and chin, down his throat and chest then back up again to his lips. She pulled the mantle off and her top set of armor but left on her underclothes and he made plans for their removal soon enough. Keyleth pressed a soft kiss to the bruise above his heart while bright eyes shone with love when she pulled him to the bed. 

Keyleth needed to see him look at her again. To give her that look of rapture. His pale, deathly visage kept following her in her dreams and she wanted to replace it with his enjoyment. She wanted to chase away the chill of it with his warmth. With how beautiful he was when he reached his end. Nothing would ever compare to it. 

So she pressed her lips to the flesh she could see and used gentle hands to stroke lean muscles. He pulled her up to him and tried to pull her shirt from her body but she palmed over the tented pants and he sucked in a sharp breath and released her. His distraction allowed her to move just out of his range as she pulled him free and went to work on him while he clenched his jaw to muffle his groans while he kicked his head back and forth in an effort to keep control. He could get lost in her. He was lost in her again while she bit her lip and watched him come apart with eager eyes. Each stroke and twist of her hand along his length brought him closer. He dug his heels into the bed and thrust into her curled hand with more choked moans. Eyes fluttered shut as he reached for her while his released barreled down on him. “Kiki.” He managed to bite out and she moved back to let him hold onto her when he curled into her and with sharp spasms released over her hand and the bed nearby.

When he felt able he released her from his needy embrace to relax into the bed. Just for a minute then he would pull her under him and pay her back for two orgasms in the best way. 

Except... he didn’t. She stood and cleaned up what little of his release had made it onto his sensitive skin and her hand then the covers and stroked her fingers through his hair with devotion and pleased pride. When he reached for her after his heart stopped pounding in his chest she caught his hand and pressed a kiss to each knuckle. It lacked the heat she had minutes before and threw him off when she lay down to face him with her usual cheer and a goodnight kiss. 

She found him attractive and desirable. The heat in her gaze, the possession, and love didn’t lie. He was certain she was incapable of deception on such a level. It baffled him how it seemed as if she was unconcerned with pleasure on her side. Maybe she was one of those who didn’t require it but there was no way he would let her continue to service him as if she were a prostitute without getting anything for herself. If she didn’t wish for her needs to be addressed then he wouldn’t let her do anything for him either. Perhaps she was afraid of getting pregnant when their lives were so unstable. He would have to ask her later. Definitely later. 

There was little to worry about in Hell. Literal Hell. It was the one night where she didn’t sleep plastered to his body. They were as far apart as the could be from one another in the oppressive heat and neither of them slept well for it. 

While they made their way through the prison he watched the monstrosity tower over Keyleth’s prone form as a widening blood pool stretched outward from her and his heart seized in his chest. Catastrophe avoided narrowly when they managed to achieve their goal and plane-shift from the prison with little time to spare. 

Then drinks...and Trish the Dish taking Taryon for what Keyleth knew had to be sex. People just did that randomly with people they didn’t know. The whole concept sort of baffled her but it was fun and so she cheered them on with the rest of her friends. 

“That was fun, wasn’t it?” Keyleth giggled through her drunken haze. “He looked a little scared and what kind of a weirdo is Percy anyway? Who would want to look in on that stuff? She’s going to probably hurt him a little. Tary’s such a delicate boy.” More giggles. She spun around and felt the room shift in a good way and then a really bad way as she collided with Vax. 

“Hey. You are going to fall over you know.” He laughed and pulled her close to kiss her and she sunk into him languid and boneless while he dumbly helped her out of her armor. Normally dexterous fingers caught and fumbled on buckles and straps while she place sloppy kisses on him. Vax massaged her sides and rear while he undressed her and felt her lean into his touch while he managed to strip her down and kiss her sillier. Keyleth stumbled through is buckles and treated him to extended touches as well as they giggled and nuzzled foreheads. No god was going to take him from her. 

Her bright, intoxicated smile and adorable ramblings while inebriated warmed him far more than the alcohol and he pulled her closer while he drifted off to sleep. Nothing to fucking do. Nothing at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter wasn't what I actually wanted it to be but I wanted to get something out especially with the one shot that TORE MY HEART OUT. I've actually been really sick and this was all I could manage with my splitting headache and stomach trouble. 
> 
> This weekend I will start up on the year break which will have the most development. Lots of talk and maybe even some sweet sweet lovemaking. Again I'm really sorry if it's not as good as usual I just didn't want to let you guys down. :) Have a good weekend and I really hope I'm feeling better by tomorrow.


	8. The Year-Part One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Our poor babies are awash in miscommunication

They arrived in Zephrah a couple weeks after his talk with his sister and her successful Grey Hunt. The people in the village welcomed the Voice of the Tempest with reverence and open arms for which Keyleth was uncomfortable but took in stride with his presence at her back. 

They settled into life in the village fairly easily. His wings made him rather popular with a lot of the villagers as he flew overhead alongside a shapeshifted Keyleth for an hour a day. He kept waiting for her to make a move of any kind with him. Instead she remained as affectionate and loving as she had from the start. Her hot and cold mannerisms were dizzying but he shook it off as he made his way through the village most days to talk to the people there and get to know his new neighbors. This would be his home. For as long as Keyleth would have him here. 

His heart swelled when he watched her grow into her new role slowly. She still had very little in the way of people skills but she was learning how to improvise. Vax was never far from her side. He even started passing conversations with her father who Vax couldn’t get a good read on as far as his disposition for the rogue/paladin. 

It was a cool afternoon when he was in the process of putting away his armor in the box that he had been built with lavender to contain it when he noticed something out of place. A book he had never seen before peeked out of the space next to their bed as if hurriedly hidden on Keyleth’s side. Curiosity prompted him to pick the book up and wrinkle his nose at the cover art. A human male and at least some part elven female were in a passionate embrace with the title ‘Temptation of the Knight’ in curled lettering. A rather quick perusal of the words contained within led him to the conclusion that this was a very poorly written book of smut. There were at least eight different terms for a cock and at least half as many for a cunt. This was not the kind of book his Kiki should be reading. It had little to no reference for a female’s enjoyment of sex. A lot of service for a man, of course, but none for women. 

Ah. She must have been reading this book for a while. It would explain her lack of interest in receiving pleasure if this has been her handbook for it. Shameful. The main character didn’t even go down on his love interest. Just jammed it in there with very little foreplay. Vax shivered in horror. Even he knew that must be uncomfortable. His sister complained about men like that enough during their slightly younger years and even Vax had some experience with selfish lovers. Vax replaced the book in it’s exact spot with all the precision his thieving skills gave him and finished dressing in regular clothing before he searched out his Tempest in the village. 

That night he took great care in undressing slowly as Keyleth readied herself for bed. He felt her gaze on him while he stretched arms overhead to remove his shirt. It gave ample view of his lean muscles and the play of the light on them. He even stripped down to his skin and watched her gaze simmer in low desire while she stared at his ass. She was interested. 

Keyleth desired to reach out and touch the firm flesh so nearby. Her fingers twitched and itched to do so while he bent over to find different pants. She could visualize who it felt so well that when she actually pressed her palm into one muscled cheek she didn’t actually realize she was doing it until a pair of amused eyes locked onto hers from very close by. “What do you have there?” He purred out.

“Sorry. I didn’t--.” She stammered and felt her face heat as she released him and shifted back. Or tried to shift back. 

“Why are you sorry? You’ve touched far more than that before.” He turned around to face her. 

She didn’t know where to look first as her eyes darted around his frame, including the semi-firm flesh hanging between his legs. “I know. I just didn’t ask.” 

“You don’t have to ask to touch me.” He winked as he pulled on pants. “Come here. You look like you need to relax a little. Let me braid your hair.” He sat down on the bed and patted the space open between his legs for her to sit. 

Keyleth crept forward sheepishly in her sleeping clothes as he pulled her to him and sat her down. His fingers pressed gently down into her scalp and she leaned into his touch. His hands felt so good. The pull of the brush relaxed her further while her eyes fluttered open and shut in random intervals. So much stress melted away when he started on her temple to part her hair down the middle in order to start a braid down her right side. She didn’t entirely notice when he leaned in to kiss her just under her ear and shivered. His hands came down to rest on her the sides of her arms and he held her there loosely while his mouth lifted from her hairline to press down to her neck and suckle the pulse point there gently. Then again to a space below, careful to leave no mark, and traveled down the exposed flesh of the line where her shoulder began. 

Keyleth, still sort of floaty from the tactile massage of his hands, felt his lips at her neck and opened her throat for him with a small exhale of delight. She felt a small bit of heat flare under her skin to warm her while she sank back into him. Vax pulled back and shifted his slackened girlfriend to sit atop his thigh while he attended his hands to the left side of her hair. She came back to herself a little bit then and noticed the way the place between her legs throbbed especially when she shifted and found Vax’s thigh pressed there. Each time she tried to shift off a strange thrill ran through her and so she stopped, unsure of what it meant. 

When his mouth pressed to her neck this time the throb between her legs pulsed and she shifted along his leg. Warmth flared under her skin and she tried to keep still while he kissed her skin. She liked it when he kissed her. 

Vax smiled as he pecked gently at her throat again. Slow. Easy. Just enough to interest her but not enough to spook. She was an easily startled creature and he wanted to show her that she didn’t need to be with him. Her slim hips just didn’t quite seem to know what to do but he could taste the heat between her legs under his thigh. That’s it. Just use him a little. 

Keyleth moaned softly and ground down on his thigh when he sank his teeth into the meat of her shoulder. Her hands spasmed in the air and the heat under her skin flared brighter. 

Vax was unbearably hard now as he watched and felt the timid way she moved against him. 

He eyed her left ear with dubious intent. Some elven ancestry could care less about their ears but others could have them paid attention to for hours. His mouth watered to see which Kiki was. 

Lips closed around the tip of her pretty little ear and he sucked. 

Heat flared and flashed with such intensity within her that she jerked away from him with a startled cry. Vax managed to keep her upright but only just as he pulled his mouth far from her and cursed internally, “Hey. Hey. Keyleth. It’s okay.”

Keyleth tried to keep calm as she looked down at her hands. There was a flash of fire there when he kissed her ear. She was sure of it. “I’m sorry.” She felt her eyes fill with tears while her throat tensed and burned with the effort of not saying any more. 

“Hey. Hey. Shhhh. It’s okay. Did I hurt you?” He shifted her off his thigh while he pulled them both back onto the bed and he turned her unresisting form around to face him while he cradled her and looked her over for any injuries. 

“No.” She croaked out. “Did I hurt you?” Tears openly spilled from reddened eyes and Vax felt his heart break a little at the sight. 

“Never. Why would you think you hurt me?” He stroked her freckled cheek with a thumb. 

“Nothing. It’s stupid.” She huffed out. 

“Stop that.” Vax chided and looked her in the eye. “Tell me what you mean otherwise I won’t be able to help.” 

Keyleth met his gaze, though she didn’t want to and took a deep breath, “I saw Vex and Percy one night in Whitestone a few weeks ago. They left the door open and Vex was...on top of Percy and she was making these noises and i had never seen her so out of control before. Then I picked up a book in the library because I realized I really didn’t know much about sex and so I read things and it talked about a loss of control. Then we shared the night in Vesrah and you were so wild and beautiful and I watched you lose control as well. I don’t want to lose control. If I lose control I might hurt you and I never want to hurt you, Vax. I love you. I couldn’t live with myself if I hurt you.” Once she began she couldn’t stop, as usual and let it all pour out of her in a wave of half gibberish while she hiccuped through her tears. 

Vax really couldn’t stop the grin as it began from the seam of his closed lips and ended at his cheeks as he chuckled to himself. He spotted Keyleth’s look of betrayal but before she could do something about it he pulled her in for a kiss. She resisted but he kept her close just pressing his lips to hers and breathing through his nose until he could compose himself. “That’s ridiculous and adorable but you won’t hurt me.”

“You don’t know that. I’ve thrown people into walls in anger and broken bones and have powers that are in their nature uncontrollable.”

“I do know. No one has ever destroyed the earth with an orgasm before. They do say the earth moves during a honeymoon but I never really thought that was too literal. You will not hurt me.” He stopped and narrowed his eyes at her, “Is that why you’ve not let me touch you?”

“I let you touch me.” She argued. All the time. He touched her all the time. 

“Don’t get cute with me. You know what I meant. I’ve wanted to make you feel just as good as you’ve made me feel for ages now. It’s been killing me a little bit that you haven’t wanted to let me.” He smoothed away the remainder of the tear tracks from her sun-kissed cheeks with a few brushes of his thumb. 

“Oh. I didn’t know. I really liked making you feel good. It was nice.” It was the most beautiful and powerful thing she had ever beheld.

“Yeah. Nice.” Mind blowing, heart stopping. “I thought you were terrfied of sex because you thought it might hurt or something. Or that you might get pregnant.” 

The slow look of dawning horror made Vax realize that she hadn’t thought of these things and now that she had he was going to have to smooth that over. “The first time might be a little uncomfortable if you don’t prepare for it. I’m fully ready to take however long I need to in order to make sure that you are well prepared for it, Kiki. The second thing. There’s potions we can take to prevent the pitter patter of little feet. As for what you are concerned with let me make you a deal. We can try something simple. You don’t even have to get naked for it. We will try that first and if nothing bad happens will that help you feel better about the rest of it?” 

Keyleth thought about it before she nodded. She wanted to try. He was so sure she wouldn’t hurt him and she wanted to please Vax and make him as happy as he made her every day. 

“Great.” He kissed her forehead then both her cheeks with a wild grin. “Lets get some sleep. Don’t worry about anything tonight. Just sleep and I’ll take care of everything.” Vax pulled her to lie down next to him as they whispered good nights to each other while he stroked her arm and back in a soothing rhythm to help her sleep while he thought about how to best begin with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I redid parts of this chapter like twice. It was horrible. I couldn't seem to decide on how I wanted it to go and then my hands just went whatever direction they wanted so it was all a mess and not at all what I had envisioned for the night but I'm still okay with this. It's been a slower burn and I hope I communicated Keyleth's desires well enough that she wants to do this stuff she just doesn't have a good basis for knowing what she wants. And her fears as well. 
> 
> Next chapter will contain some smutty stuff for sure. It's coming guys. (Teehee)


	9. The Year-Part Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A discussion over wine and a candlit rendezvous.

It was the first weekend away from Zephrah when they entered through the tree and out the Sun Tree into the city of Whitestone. Hand in hand Vax and Keyleth made their way through the streets towards the construction site for Vex’s home as the Mistress of the Grey Hunt. When they left the foundation was just beginning it’s construction and it had been a couple of weeks so they were eager to see what it had become. 

Keyleth leaned into Vax as they walked with her head on his shoulder and he grinned like an idiot while squeezing her hand. Five days since she agreed to try and he had yet to make any kind of proposition towards her. The first night she timidly entered their room to find the room empty until he entered with wet hair and slightly damp chest with a towel wrapped around his neck. His playful grin didn’t fade as he bent over the bed to kiss her while she lay upon it waiting for him, nor did he refuse her when she asked to brush his hair for him. Another ridiculous braiding job and they were both nestled in bed together to start another day all over again. 

Familiar sights and sounds greeted them along the street and some even waved in their direction as they passed through. It was no time at all when they reached the castle grounds and found Vex and Trinket outdoors overseeing the construction of a now much larger home. 

“Vex!” Keyleth called out and the woman in question turned around as did Trinket before she darted off toward them with a smile. 

Vex wrapped her brother and Keyleth in a hug and though she wasn’t the strongest member of Vox Machina she took the wind out of Keyleth at least. “Brother, Kiki. I’m so happy to see you. It’s been a while. Did you see my house? Mine.” She released each of them with a peck while bright eyes took them both in. “It still needs the upper levels constructed fully, painted, and everything has to be ‘wired in’ as Percy says before we can start furnishing it but it’s mine. And Percy’s.” She added as almost an afterthought. 

“We do see it, Stubby, and it looks like a house. Speaking of Freddie, where is he?”

“Yeah. He knew we were coming.” Keyleth pouted.

“Probably in his workshop. I swear the man wouldn’t eat, drink or sleep if not for me. Not to mention other things that are infinitely more fun.” A wry smile and glint in her eye clued Keyleth in on what she must have meant but Vax only sighed and pushed her away. 

“We don’t need to hear about all that. Disgusting.” Vax teased then pulled her in to rub his knuckles in her hair for which she stomped on his foot. 

“You ass.” She pulled from the grapple and stomped again for good measure. “Come on, Kiki. Let’s find Percy and see if we can tempt him away from his toys.” Vex held her arm out for Keyleth who took it with an excited smile. 

They did find Percy, who was in fact in his workshop, and he gave Keyleth a warm hug. Half from the heat of the shop but mostly from affection while he wiped the sweat from his brow and looked down at the clothes he wore. “I’m rather a mess, aren’t I? Especially for company. Excuse me while I clean up. I’ll meet you in the library so we can get started.” Soot, oil, and gunpowder stained Percy made his way up around Keyleth, a pat on Vax’s shoulder then a kiss to Vex who leaned against the doorframe with arms crossed before he made his way out. 

“See. He never has time for me anymore.” She called down the hall after him. 

“I love you too, dear.” 

“Ass.” Vex huffed but with a smile as the three of them made their way to the library. Already many books were strewn out onto the tables open to various entries with paper notes clustered around. “We’ve been reading and haven’t found much to be honest here. I think we need to go somewhere like Vasselhiem or Emon or the Cobalt Soul or somewhere with more books about Orcas.” 

“Yeah. Well you find anything good here?” 

“Ghost stories. Percy is very fond of them.” 

Percy arrived a while later and with a joviality as they started to catch up on the weeks previous. Tary was busy rebuilding Doty and out collecting items and would be back sometime soon or so they thought. 

The first night was much of reading books and talking but the next couple of days they spent in Whitestone consisted of Keyleth and Percy in his workshop talking about an idea to have an early warning system to help if there were something like Thordak again. 

The twins read books upon books together and at one point Vax left for a while and returned with two full wine bottles. He set one down in front of Vex and one in front of himself as he plucked the cork from his and took a swig before he settled down in his chair. 

Vex eyed the unopened bottle in front of her feet from where she reclined with a book in her lap, turned her gaze to her brother, then back at the bottle, “Something you want to talk about, brother?” 

“Shut up and drink.” He took another swig as he turned another page in the book. 

Vex, never one to say no to a bit of drink, opened her bottle and started up. When he wanted to start this heart to heart she better be plenty pliable for it. 

Halfway through the bottles and a little buzzed Vax closed the book with an audible noise and sighed, “I don’t know what the fuck to do.” 

“About Orcas? The Raven Queen? Tomorrow? You’ll have to be a little less vague, Vax.” Then laughed as she closed her book. “So, darling brother what is it?” 

Vax sighed, “Oh, sister mine. What was your first time like?” 

“First time shooting an arrow? First time drinking? You’ll have to be a touch more specific.” She teased.

“Fucking. First time fucking. Mine was alright but as far as I know there are very few ways to fuck it up on my end. Yours. Now. God I need more to drink.” He took another couple of swallows of the sweet wine and sighed. Already regretting his decision to talk to his sister. 

“Oh. It was alright I guess. I got paid a couple of gold so not a total loss. I had no idea what I was doing. Not really and he didn’t either but it was easy money. I had something to give and he had money to pay for it. I was a tad too dry and it was uncomfortable. That’s what I remember. I don’t even think he knew my name. I certainly didn’t care to know his.” Vex shrugged as she took another swallow. “I got better at it.” 

“Ah.” Vax sighed. 

“Why?” 

“Keyleth.” 

“Did she have an awful first time as well? I can’t imagine she’s had much experience with all of it.” Vex took another drink. 

“She hasn’t had any. At all.” 

Vex stopped the bottle halfway to her mouth as she processed the information in her addled brain. “What do you mean?”

“She’s totally untouched.”

“Still? After all this time? I find that hard to believe.” 

“Yeah. I’m not some asshole who only wants her for her body you know. And I don’t have the sex drive of a rabbit either like someone here does.” 

“I like to fuck. It feels fantastic when you do it right and Percy likes to be fucked so everyone wins. The man has wonderful hands and a fantastic mouth.”

“I know. So does Keyleth.” Vax shivered in horror at the vague images his rampant imagination brought up about his sister and her lover.

“I won’t dissect what that means right now because I don’t want to. But our sex life is healthy and yours is quite clearly not. She can’t have no idea what it all is. She’s traveled with Scanlan of all people before and his sex drive outpaces mine by miles.” She took another drink. The bottle was starting to feel a little light. 

“Right about that.” He nodded. “She’s afraid she’s going to set me on fire or something during the act.” 

Vex snorted out a choked laugh, “What?” 

“Yeah. I told her she was worried about nothing but she’s gotten me off twice now.” 

“Bold then, is she? Good girl. But you are so chivalrous it must be under your skin by now. Has she never touched her own cunt before?” Vex’s filter disintegrated under the last of the wine on a mostly empty stomach.

“Apparently not.” He slurred out. 

“You don’t need my advice. You do well enough on your own. You love her and you’ll treat her really well. Just don’t forget not to marry her while I’m not there. Okay? I don’t think I can read anymore so I’ll go find Tary or Percy. Percy. I’ll find Percy and drag him off to give him a good once over. You should do the same to Keyleth. Just do it. Doesn’t have to be romantic with candles and flowers and smells. It just has to come from the heart. Or your fingers...or tongue...or cock. Any of those. Yeah?” Vex stood with the empty bottle and began to saunter out of the library. 

Vax watched her go as he downed the last of the wine. Vex just solidified things he already knew. Maybe that’s all he needed was some confirmation from his other half.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair to daydream about a bright smile, freckled cheeks and bright red hair on a summer’s day with a sigh. 

Percy just happened to be rounding the corner from his workshop to check on the twins when he was suddenly and very unceremoniously thrown into the wall with a sharp cry. Cut short when a pair of soft lips pressed to his and unmistakable taste and scent of wine washed over him. Not one to deny a beautiful woman he kissed her back until she parted from him with glazed eyes filled with desire and looked around to press him into a door. She was of a mood and although it wasn’t the most ideal place or time it was best to indulge her and the press of his trousers agreed as she dropped to her knees to unbuckle and unfasten to pull him out and with two or three rolls of her wrist she replaced it with her mouth as she took him in sloppily. Percy muffled his groan as best he could with an arm while she worked him up until he pulled her from him and pressed her into the wall and with a little shuffling managed to give her exactly what she needed from him. 

Keyleth had finished heating the metal to bend with her flames and placed the last one in the pile as she looked around. Percy had been gone a while. Maybe they had found something in the books. She exited the workshop and began to walk towards the library when she heard a rhythmic thud in one room aside and sounds similar to what she heard weeks ago in Whitestone before. Heat colored her cheeks while she fled to the library and found Vax in a mess of books with his boots crossed over one another on the table and an empty bottle of wine on it’s side. He was singing off key about something...her. About her in Elvish. Her hair, eyes, nose...breasts…, “Vax.” 

He shifted to look over at her with a smile, “Hey. Kiki.” And sounded a little like the Sun Tree. “Come here. I was just singing about you.” 

“You are very drunk.” 

“I am. But I was still singing.”

“It was beautiful.” 

“So are yooooooou.” 

Keyleth walked over and inspected the bottle of wine. Ah. That explains it. “This is some heavy stuff. Did you drink the whole bottle?” 

“I had one and so did my sister. Come sit on my lap.” He patted his thigh with a wiggle to his eyebrow. 

Keyleth knew better but couldn’t see the harm in it, “I went looking for Percy.” She settled into his lap and his arms folded around her while he rested his cheek onto her back. 

“Did you find him? My sister was looking for him.” 

“She found him.” Keyleth laughed as he blew a raspberry on her back. 

“Good. I love you.” He sang as he tickled her sides. 

“I love you too. Did you happen to find anything before you drove yourself to drink?” 

“Not a word. I think we have to go somewhere else. There won’t be alcohol there though.”

“A shame.” Keyleth replied somberly. 

“Exactly. Oh. I should get you a bottle. I got it from the secret wine cellar.”

“No. I think one of us should be sober for the night.”

“That’s not fun.”

“Have you eaten?” 

“What time is it?” 

“Almost dinnertime.” Keyleth stroked the flesh over the back of his hands. 

“Shit. Not since like really early this morning.”

“Fuck.” Keyleth muttered. “We have to get up. Get you some food. And water. You are going to have such a wine hangover tomorrow if you don’t.” Keyleth wiggled out of his grasp and he whined as he reached for her again. “Food. Now.” She ordered.

“You’re hot when you take charge, Kiki.” He winked at her as he stood and followed after her.

He did have a hangover the next day and so did Vex but they wouldn’t talk about that. 

When they arrived back in Zephrah two days later and at least moderately fulfilled in their missions Keyleth addressed a few issues that arose during her time away while Vax followed behind as her shadow. 

Vax sighed as he finished lighting the last candle and surveyed his work. The low light provided a somewhat relaxed atmosphere while the incense curled around the room as it burned while he awaited her return from the baths. 

He couldn’t help the nervous tremble in his belly. Butterflies right before a battle surged to nearly choke him before he pushed them down especially when he heard her soft footfalls approach. 

“Hey, Vax. The baths were a little--what’s all this?” She shut the door behind her with trepidation as she shifted from foot to foot. 

“Hey.” He smiled and reached for her. “Just a little something to help us relax.”

“Oh.” She stared at his outstretched hand for about thirty seconds before she moved forward with her own palm outstretched. A bit of electric energy tingled where her fingers hovered above his hand and intensified as her palm connected with his. A firm hand wrapped around hers as he pulled her forward to press a kiss to the back of her hand. 

Her lips parted as she breathed in while he pressed another kiss, then another to her hand, up to her wrist, then her lower arm until she stood in his space and his dark gaze threatened to swallow her whole as he looked up from her elbow. “Let's fix your hair first, yeah?” 

Lips dry she licked them and nodded. Keyleth let him pull her down to sit on the bed in front of his crossed legs as he began a near nightly routine of brushing out her growing hair and braiding it for the morning. As usual the familiarity pulled her into a lull of relaxation and when he finished with her hair he pressed a calloused palm onto the open space just before her shirt began and stroked along the muscle down her arm. 

“Will you be alright lying down on your belly for me?” 

Keyleth nodded again and slowly shifted around Vax to lie at the top of the bed with her neck turned to the side. 

“I won’t move any clothing up or down unless you ask and if there’s anything you don’t like you need to tell me right away, okay?” 

Keyleth nodded. 

“I need you to say it, Kiki.”

“Yes.” She nodded again and she couldn't help but tense a little as he settled next to her. The scent of lavender floated through the air while a wet sound echoed in the impossibly quiet room. She jumped when slick flesh touched her neck and he instantly pulled back. 

“Kiki?” 

“It’s fine. You just surprised me.” He replaced his hand after a few moments and the scent of lavender strengthened so close to her nose while he started on the apex of her neck in small circles. His other hand joined down the flesh of her neck while she closed her eyes and relaxed into the warmth of his touch. Down her shoulders and up her crossed arms he manipulated muscles and soothed nerves. When he shifted down to her legs she laughed when his fingers pressed into the bottom of her foot but enjoyed the way he pressed down into the sore ligaments and tendons where she walked too long in the day. As he massaged into her calves and up the back of her thighs she became conscious of the proximity of his hands to places they had never ventured before and the way her skin felt warm but in a pleasant sort of heavy way like she had a little too much alcohol but not enough to really mess her up. 

Vax felt greedy but he continued his slow exploration of her smooth skin. He bent over and pressed his lips to her feet, ankle, calf, knee, thigh and then to the other and felt her body shift further into the sheets with a sigh. He kept going in the same vein until he was sure she was as relaxed as he could make her before he stretched out alongside her and pulled her over so her back pressed into his chest and leaned over to give her a full, deep kiss. They parted with an audible noise and further noise still when he continued down the side of her face and neck. Open mouthed suckling on her flesh left very little marks but he felt the change in her skin, the heat of it and the way her pulse fluttered under his mouth. “Remember.” He sighed. “Say the word and I’ll stop if you don’t like it.” 

“I know.” 

He shifted the two of them around until he sat back against the headboard and she right against his chest. His lips never left her neck except to peck along it absentmindedly while one hand shifted to trail fingers up her arm while she shivered and felt another flare of heat underneath where his fingers fell. The crook of her elbow and up the flesh of her upper arm to her neck where he could feel the pounding of her heart under his palm where he pressed it to her chest. 

Warmth pulsed through her body with each beat of her heart hammering against her ribs like it wanted out. Wanted to lie in his palm and let him do what he wished with it. With her. 

She felt at her back a firm press of his arousal and shifted against it just to hear the catch in his breath and she did. Rewarded with a nip at her shoulder he shifted his touch downward to cup her loose breast above her shirt. They felt heavy despite their smaller size. Full and sensitive, eager to be touched, and she whined into the air when his gentle grip shifted and his thumb brushed a nipple. Keyleth arched into his caress with a whine while the heat shifted to a hum under her skin. He did it again and again as heat rolled from his hand to her belly to settle and twist within her. She was already unbearably warm when his other hand took up a station on her opposite breast. With both sides being manipulated with such skill she threw her head back and felt another flare of heat while she rolled her hips unknowingly into nothing. 

Vax pinched the hardened peaks lightly and was rewarded with a keen as she arched forward. She felt lightheaded, dizzy and free, hot and liquid and all the things she feared but she wanted more. Needed more but didn’t know how to ask. Her grip on her thoughts slipped through like fog while he crafted this needy creature into something new. Vax latched onto her left ear again and she bucked with another sharp cry and she felt so warm. So unbearably hot while she throbbed burning between her spread legs. Distracted he slid his hand down her body to tease above her belly where the sensation seemed so intense she let out a broken sob. “Kiki. Still okay?” His rough askance made her core throb unbearably again as she nodded but couldn’t breathe out an answer. 

It was too much and not enough and she dug her hands into his thighs to try to keep herself steady but the room spun and she couldn’t breathe for the constant pulse of something she couldn’t name. 

Vax had to breathe in and out almost dizzy with anticipation, with the way he had her, so strong writhing in his grasp, uncontrolled and beautiful with her wildness and he wanted her this way every single moment for him. Only for him. He groaned and mouthed hot, wet kisses into her neck while his hand moved and pressed with the lightest touch over her clothed core. He had to breathe through his nose when his fingers felt hot slickness even through the thin shorts and he pinched a little hard at the breast he held in his hand. Her hips rolled up and he followed them while she dug into his thigh with the sweetest pain. “Oh!” The throb came to a head between her thighs and her core clenched as he moved just two fingers along where it felt the hottest. 

“Gods, Kiki. You’re so wet. So wet and warm for me.” He rumbled and she moaned in reply as another pulse coursed through her. The room had since blurred into shapes as sweat collected on too warm skin while Vax trailed his hand up to turn her head. Wet kisses in between panting gasps echoed around them while his hand kept the soft rhythm and she kept flaring brighter, hotter with each pass of them. She arched and moaned and couldn’t stop. Too hot. Too warm. It felt like a wave and she had to lift her hands to claw at his arm while she twisted and bucked while he had to loop his leg around her thigh to keep her open and still with his relentless touch. Firm and gentle while his fingers sopped wetter and wetter and he felt the nub at the apex and started to focus in on that. Her demeanor changed almost instantly to half-breaths, her heartbeat pounded through her skull and the room disappeared. She curled in a little bit and he felt the fine tremble begin in her thighs, belly, arms of her impending climax, “Vax.” She panted out. Fear. “Vax. What? What’s--happening. I’m--.” She bucked and spasmed while her free foot slid haphazard on the smooth sheets as the wave built and built and power flared white hot while she jerked in his arms. One hand lifted to grab onto his forearm pressed across her body at her throat to try to hold on.

“Shhhh. Shhh. I’ve got you. Let go. I promise you everything’s okay.” 

He would remember the look of her for the rest of his days when she finally broke. Her eyes shut tight and she let the tremble course through her, arching and bowing in his arms. Her scream he caught in his mouth. The deep throated moans and cries while she continued to arch in and out of his grip, all the while he carried her through it. 

Keyleth couldn’t breathe, couldn’t think, as everything snapped and ecstasy barreled through her in a wave of molten fire and sensation that pulled her under. 

When she finally came back to herself from the fog of her climax Vax held her tightly to his body while her skin tingled and her...cunt...throbbed with each beat of her heart. Another broken moan emerged when she tried to speak and she felt him laugh behind her. She could feel her heart beating and his right behind her. There was a dampness now everywhere between her legs and she colored briefly when she realized what it meant and that it might have gotten on the bed sheets. 

“Are you okay?” 

“Hmmmm.” She muttered out, exhausted and boneless. “Good.” 

“I’ll say. We’ll need to do that again sometime, yeah? For science just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. I want to drive you there again and again just to watch you fall apart for me. You were breathtaking.” 

Keyleth felt her body clench in a wave of fleeting arousal and she whined. “I didn’t hurt you?” Tired eyes turned up in such vulnerability his heart clenched and he ached to reassure her.

“No.” And she hadn’t. Not really. A bit of a flash burn on his arm in the shape of her hand he was careful to keep out of her eyesight. Something that would fix in the morning and they could talk about it then. She looked so peaceful and adorable he didn’t want to upset it.

She grinned up at him, “Thank you. Do you need--?”

“I’ll be fine I think.” In truth he had come in his pants like some green boy seeing his first pair of tits but that could be fixed with a change of pants. For now he would hold her to him as tender and soft as she was now and kiss her silly. “Thank you. For allowing me to witness that. It was magnificent.” 

“Stop.” She blushed and looked away but he tipped her head back up to him as he shifted her pliant form around so they were lying face to face. 

He kissed her forehead, cheeks, nose, chin, then her lips, “Never. I’ll never tire of this. Just sleeping next to you at night no matter if anything else happens between us or not. This is exactly where I want to be for the rest of my days. Right here. With you. As long as I can.” And he meant it. He knew there might be very little time until the Raven Queen called him for his charge and as long as he could remain here he was happy. 

Keyleth felt her eyes well with tears after such an emotionally intense time between them, “So do I. I love you so much it hurts sometimes. I couldn’t bear to not have you here with me.” 

“Shhhh. I’ll always be here with you even if I’m away. I promise.” He grinned and they spent a while just staring and touching one another until the damp and cold forced them to rise. Keyleth stumbled a little bit as her legs gave out on her and Vax felt the rush of male pride while he helped her steady herself before he sought his own change of clothes. They joined back in the bed and Vax drifted with light snores as Keyleth listened to his steady heartbeat while she floated off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I had Labor Day off and after I kept my son for the morning I took him to see his grandparents for a bit and sat down to do this monstrosity. I hope you enjoyed it! There may be a bit of a break with the next chapter and it will be more fluff. Work is going to be a bit busy for this short week so I'll try to get stuff up but it might be a couple days. 
> 
> I will say that a comment doesn't hurt to keep my spirits up. I'm not fond of my job but I love to write. It helps to relax me. I hope everyone who is in the U.S. had a good Labor Day weekend and I hope you enjoyed the smut. :)


	10. The Year-Part Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gardening and Hot Springs with a Dash of Dad talk

Keyleth looked up at the sky and even here in the heights of Zephrah clouds still swirled around the blue cascade above them. Vax felt the weight of her head on his belly as he twisted his hand to encompass her fingers. “When do you think we should go back?” 

“Soon. I would imagine. A trip to Whitestone then Vasselhiem. I’m overdue to appear at Her temple I think. There’s this nagging feeling that won’t go away no matter how I try to distract myself.” 

“Hmmm.” Though Keyleth had no reason to be jealous she couldn’t help the spike of negativity mention of the Raven Queen brought her. She was a god. Who was once mortal. And she chose Vax as her Champion. It was an honor but somehow it seemed more a chain than a boon. Pike’s goddess didn’t seem to have the same relationship with her as Vax’s did. It felt like he was talking about seeing a Mistress and it didn’t sit well.

“Kiki.” She felt Vax’s palm on her chin as he turned her face towards him. “It’s not like I want to do this. I have to. Just like you had to finish your Aramente. I’m still going to be here with you and I will have my own duties aside yours.” His thumb stroked her cheek as he gave her a gentle smile. 

“I know. It’s stupid but I just want you all to myself. I don’t want to share you with anyone but Vex.” 

“Nor I you, but share we must. Know that I will always come back home with you so you don’t have to worry about that at least.” 

“Do you think we should get back to work soon?”

“Nah. Well. Probably, yeah. But nah. Our garden will be great because you are the Voice of the Tempest. Best tomatoes around.”

“I’m not going to cheat us to ripe tomatoes. What sort of leader would that make me?” 

“A smart one.” He teased.

Keyleth snorted and flipped over to crawl over his body and pin him flat as she leveled him a glare, “I think not. And if you want tomatoes you will learn how to grow them yourself.” 

Keyleth gave a very unleaderlike squeal when he flipped them over, “Fine. I’ll work but I want a kiss first.” 

She pecked his cheeks and nose before she planted one right on his mouth, “Get to work.” She slapped his rear and he jolted as he shot her an incredulous look while she bit her lip and reddened. 

“Yes, ma’am.” Vax pulled up from her before he rolled up his sleeves and started on spreading fertilizer over the freshly tilled earth nearby their home. Most of Zephrah had gardens or farms for which most of their food came from as well as herds of high altitude animals. Keyleth joined him and after a long day where he had long since discarded his shirt in favor of cooler skin and she down to the same they had a garden planted of many different vegetables and fruit and all they had to do was wait. “You sure you just can’t--.” He gestured to the plot and she sighed as she reached into the earth with her power to jump start the seedlings. 

“There. Happy you impatient man?” 

“Not yet. I’m a mess and so are you. Up for a bath?” 

“Together?” 

“Why not? Just to get clean it would save time if we just went together and you have a special one for the Voice of the Tempest so no one would question the honor of their chief.” 

“They already know we live together. There’s not much more they haven’t at least guessed.” Even if it wasn’t all true yet. Maybe one day. 

“True. Still. Bath. Warm water. Relaxation. Come on.” He gave her a disarming smile while he pulled her in with his sweaty, muddy arms and hands. 

“Fine.” 

So the two ventured off into the natural springs and into a cavern in relative privacy before she turned from Vax as he stripped and did the same in record speed. Warm water enveloped her body as she sank down into the spring just as he started to turn around. “You’re quick.” 

“I’m dirty.” 

“So am I.” He turned unabashed and in full view stepped slowly into the tub with a wink. A cloud of brown water surrounded them both and drifted down the small waterfall that fed the springs down the mountain. She got to washing her front and down her arms and legs while he did the same all the while he stared at her side but most of her frame remained hidden by the water. “Do you want me to get your back?” 

“Sure.” She turned around and felt his hands on her as he brushed her hair out of the way before he started to gently scrub her freckled back and shoulders until they disappeared into the water. He also massaged the natural shampoo and conditioner into her hair and rinsed it with her help. It was relaxing and she turned around to do the same for him when the opportunity presented itself once he finished. His hair was so much softer than hers and she played with it for longer than she needed to after it was rinsed out. 

Once she finished they sat along the warm stones and he held her in his crossed arms while calloused hands rested on her sides while her back rested along his belly and her bottom pressed to the soft flesh between his legs. Even though there was nothing sensual or sexual going on now between them it felt as if they were close. As close as she felt to him when she had his cock in her hand his hand between her legs. That had been a few weeks ago now and she missed the feeling of intimacy the acts prompted and this felt just as special as that had. 

Her head lolled back and she faced his neck and chest. “This is nice. We should do it more often.” 

“Yeah.” He pressed a kiss to her shoulder and hugged her closer. “Every day.” He could stay here forever honestly and keep her in his arms with nothing between them but their truths and affection. She was the softest creature he had ever had the privilege of holding.

“Greedy.” She jabbed playfully. 

“For you, always.” The whispered confession had her heart skip a beat but they remained naked and close in the darkened space until her hands felt as if the water would never leave the wrinkles it created and with a sigh of defeat they both rose and dressed in robes and night clothes before going back home. 

“My father wants to have dinner with the two of us soon.” 

“When?” 

“Whenever I guess. I think he wants to try and pin you down or something. Like an overprotective dad.” 

“Well I wouldn’t know what that was so I’m eager to find out. Tell him we’ll come by in a few days.” 

“I don’t know. Are you sure? I don’t want it to be weird.” 

“Everything with you ends up that way so I wouldn’t be too worried.” 

“Hey!” 

Vax laughed as he ran for the house before she could summon up something to chastise him with. 

The dinner was about as horribly awkward as Keyleth expected when they showed up at her father’s home he regarded Vax with a measured look and a hug to Keyleth as he invited them in. 

Vax was a puddle of chaotic energy as Korrin asked him questions about his parentage, history and eventually his intentions with Keyleth. The woman in question was doing her best to bury her entire body into the plate of food she pushed around her plate while avoiding all eye contact while they spoke. 

“I intend on staying with her as long as I live and making her as happy as she’s made me, sir.” Vax answered simply, “As long as she wishes.” 

Korrin gave a great sigh before he clapped Vax on the back with a nod. “Keyleth.”

“Yeah, dad?” 

“I think he will be a fine addition to our tribe here.” 

She brightened instantly with a grin, “Really? You like him?” 

“I do not see any reason yet to dislike him. He seems to care for you greatly and he is capable of keeping you safe. I will reserve further judgement for the time being.” 

Keyleth grinned and leaned over to give her father a hug as his hand fell from Vax’s shoulder. Korrin seemed stiff at first but relaxed with a smile into her exuberance. 

“I think that went well.” He whispered to her as they left for the evening. 

“I thought he was going to strap you to an interrogation chair and use torture devices on you.” 

“Nah. He’s just a dad. I think that’s how they are supposed to act with their daughters.” 

“Was it too much? Talking about your parents and everything?”

“No. I’ve learned to let it in the past as best as I can. It’s good to talk about my mother sometimes. It keeps her alive somehow.” 

“She’s alive in you and your sister.” Keyleth linked hands with him and fell a little more in love with him with each heartbeat. “As long as you keep her there.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy cow guys! 100 kudos! Squee! I'm still so blown away by you and your response to this! It was a drabble one night and look what you've made me do. This was another fluff chapter. Did you think I would just get them down and dirty yet? No. More slow burn! But there will be some more stuff of a smutty nature very soon. If not the next chapter then for sure the one after. Your comments and kudos keep the idea train running so I thank you! I'm going to watch the Vaxleth supercut soon because I'm not sure if I can keep going after episode 101. 
> 
> Thank you! See you soon!


	11. The Year-Part Four

Their next trip from Zephrah to Whitestone had much more pomp and circumstance since Vex’s home had been completed a week before. She was in the process of decorating as well as monitoring the construction of a workshop for Percy in her home. Smaller, but functional for Tary to use as well. The two of them had a master bedroom with a bath off the side which Keyleth made use of while the siblings caught up and Vex brought him along on a scouting venture with her Grey Hunt. 

She spent some time with Percy and they talked more shop about how they would use these warning systems. The orbs he was in the process of crafting to improve communications and how they would market such items to places like Emon and Vasselhiem. Keyleth thought she might be able to do it. She had been getting better at speaking in an official capacity in short bursts when she needed to. After that though she might as well not even function in normal company but she and Percy enjoyed their time until evening. Vax still hadn’t returned and though she wasn’t worried, per say, she was concerned at the late hour and wondered if maybe the two of them went off drinking again without letting her know. 

The bath had warm water and was of a modest size. Certainly big enough for two grown people to relax in it with room to spare and she soaked in the space for as long as she thought she should after dinner. From the offshoot room to hers she didn’t bother wearing a towel and instead warmed her skin with a flame to dry. The dressers revealed clothing Keyleth would not normally choose for bed. Things of lace and frills with very little comfort in mind. Mostly in black. Things she might wear if she were trying to impress Vax. She did slip one that looked the most functional on and surprisingly it fit her perfectly but it was best not to dwell on exactly why Vex had stocked the room with these. Keyleth slipped the underwear off and put it back while she searched for a different pair. At the very bottom she found something more akin to what she might wear normally and slipped out a night gown she thought looked nice. With both items in hand she turned and found Vax at the door, dirty and tired looking but his attention seemed rapt on her. 

“Hi.” Keyleth waved with her underwear in hand before she realized that she was naked and whirled around to face away from him. 

Vax had been staring. He wasn’t sure for how long but he had been unabashedly taking in every inch of flesh he could see from the side of her. She was usually better at spotting him anymore but she must have been distracted. Bright hair wonderfully curled along her shoulders and lithe frame hidden with secrets he wanted to uncover. When she turned from him he took his eyes off of her and glanced over to the side. “Hey. Sorry. I just wanted to let you know I was back. I’m going to go get cleaned up. I didn’t mean to stare. Pretty rude of me.” He hadn’t but he was only mortal with such divine fruit so close by he couldn’t help but gaze after it. 

Keyleth stuttered a little while she clutched her clothing close to her, “No. It’s fine. How did it go? You guys were out for a while? Catch anything?” 

“Uh. Yeah. Some wolves along the border but I can see you were getting ready for bed. You’ll wait for me?” 

She sighed and thumbed the clothing in her hand. This was ridiculous. She had already seen him naked and he had touched her body through her clothing. It was hardly fair. But she was scared of what he might truly think of her when her curves...or lack of them were displayed. If he might decide she wasn’t what he thought and leave her. For a brief moment her heart froze and she couldn’t breathe with the thought. No. That was stupid. He wouldn’t do that. Before she let her mind wander to think about the pros and cons of turning around she did. “Vax.” 

He turned back and found her facing him. The clothes in her hands floated to the ground and she stood sort of hunched over as a blush colored along her cheeks. Her teeth began to worry at her lip and she shifted uncomfortably while she watched him watching her but kept her arms down at her sides.

“You can look if you want.” She whispered to him with an uncertain smile.

“Uhhhh.” He blinked once, twice, three times at her while she shifted from foot to foot. 

She stepped...shuffled forward closer to him and the light in the room was more than enough to see every feature in bright detail. Not like Vesrah and candlelight. She felt his eyes on her body while her hands twitched as she fought the urge to cover up. 

Vax’s expression softened and he walked forward with his gaze not quite on her to pick her nightgown and shook the fabric out before he started to roll it up to fold over her head.

“Wait.” He paused with his hands raised and she couldn’t help the burst of bright warmth that flooded her chest. “I told you to look.” 

“No. You said I can look if I want. I do not want to if it makes you uncomfortable. I know how shy you are. It does not bother me.” 

“You don’t want to look at me?” Even though she wanted to cover back up there was a voice now that echoed much of her doubts stronger now. He didn’t want to look at her. 

“I did not say that. I said that I do not want to look if you are uncomfortable.” 

“But. I. I. I’ll be fine. It’s just a lot. We’ve already taken a bath together. It just seems silly to--.” She trailed off and he sighed. 

“There is no rush. None at all. I’ve never had the same views on nakedness you have. Your upbringing and mine were different. Are different. Vex and I are not shy people at least not when it comes to the physical. You are and I think that’s adorable and perfect. You don’t need to make yourself comfortable with doing the same thing I have.” 

“But I want you to look. I’m not as curvy as Vex or as pretty as a lot of other women we’ve met. I’m tall and lanky and freckled and my breasts are smaller than hers and my feet are weird but--.” 

“Your feet are lovely and I can’t get enough of your freckles. There is no comparison so you don’t need to say such things about the woman I love. You are perfect. Not because or in spite of your physical attributes. I love your kindness, and your freedom of spirit, your bravery, your compassion, the way you see the world very differently from us, the way you light up a room whenever you step inside it, the way you are learning how to be you and lead your people, your cleverness, and the way that you love me so fully and completely it takes my breath away whenever I think about it. I do not need to see your body to know these things. I very much appreciated the view I had when I walked in. Make no mistake about that but we don’t need to rush. These things will come when they will and to force them would do neither of us any good, alright?” 

Keyleth let him pull the dress over her head as she lifted each arm to follow it. The short night dress fell to just above her knee and billowed a little before it settled. The thin straps did nothing to cover her shoulders or collarbone as normal for her sleeping clothes. Vax leaned in and kissed her soundly and with all the warmth she knew he had for her. “You liked what you saw?” Another whisper and sheepish hopeful look full of uncertainty accompanied by an awkward eyebrow raise.

“Yes.” A chuckle leapt from him at her poor attempt at an eyebrow wiggle. “I liked what I saw. Now I need to get a bath of my own before I really make a mess of my sister’s floor. I won’t be long. Keep the bed warm for me, honey.” She leaned in to kiss him again before he broke off and closed the door to the washroom behind him. 

She sighed and rubbed the softer nightgown between her fingers. It was stupid. She picked her underwear off the floor and slipped it over lean legs before she climbed into bed and ducked under the covers. 

Vax appeared fresh and clean, gleaming from the bathroom in a fog of steam as he rubbed the towel through his long dark hair and shot Keyleth a disarming smile before he threw the towel back in the bathroom. 

“Can I brush your hair?” 

“Yeah. Always.” 

She sat up and he grabbed the brush to hand it to her before he sat down on the bed and let her groom him with gentle hands and tender touch. The braid neater this time than before as she handed him the brush over his shoulder and he tossed it onto a dresser before he pulled her forward by the wrist. He pressed her palm to his lips then her wrist and over to the back of her hand. “Thank you. I’m sorry I wasn’t back in time to eat with you.”

“It’s fine. Percy and Cassandra were good company. I didn’t mind too much. I missed you though.” 

“Me too. And you know, don’t you? You have ever been beautiful to me. Not just in form but in spirit and you would not show me anything I would not already know to be true.” 

Keyleth remained silent as she sighed out a breath through her nose. “I know.”

“I’ll also have years to look at you naked.” He grinned and kissed her palm again. “No rush.” 

“I liked seeing you naked.” Her cheeky whisper came out in a stutter. 

Vax turned then and his grin darkened in a way Keyleth would describe as sexy as she leaned away from him but he rolled his back and pinned her down with a smooth motion onto the bed. “Good.” He claimed her lips in a deep embrace as he sank down to press her into the soft mattress. It was chaste but full of devotion and she stroked down his bare back. Her thighs spread apart and his hips fit into the open cradle they created. It felt right to have him there above her and she wanted to keep him pressed to her body for as long as she breathed. “It would be okay if I fell asleep like this, right?” 

“I might need to pee in the night and I don’t want to make a mess out of this really nice bed.” 

“True.” He sighed and dragged his body over to the head of the bed and she followed into his open embrace.

“Vasselheim tomorrow, right?” 

“Right.” He kissed the top of her head as he told her more about his day with his sister and she with Percy and they drifted off to sleep with hands entwined and her leg thrown over his thigh to press as much of her body as she could along the firm line of his body.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one was a little more story building and took me a day longer than usual. I've been having some mild health things going on and it's cut into my ability to write and concentrate. Nothing too bad but I've had to work long hours as well so it really sucks. I'm excited about the plan for the next chapter. FYI. Vax was totally going to start stuff when I started writing but stopped before I finished. Crazy how these guys do. :) See you this weekend!


	12. The Year- Part Five (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A morning surprise for our two lovebirds

Keyleth woke up sometime in the early morning to use the bathroom and when she curled back up in to bed wrapped around Vax her eyes closed only to open to orange light. 

_Soft bed sheets rubbed the bare skin of her back and legs. A presence above her drew her eyes up to meet Vax’s pleased grin as he bent down to press his lips to the skin of her cheek, then over her lips. Her hands reached unbidden to sink into his hair and he trailed his kisses down sun kissed flesh over bone and muscle and down until she felt him at the side of her breast. Warm breath against sensitive skin and she gasped with the feeling. His lips continued downward along her belly and below. His form nestled between spread thighs while liquid warmth poured through her like fresh honey as she shifted. The electricity under her warm skin sparked as his lips pressed to the skin above her knee, alternating sides until she could hardly stand it. _

_His closed mouth lowered to give her a gentle kiss to her core and she rolled her hips, unashamed of his attentions and eager for more yet still. When his tongue met her wetness and ran upward in a sharp swipe her eyes flew open with a sharp inhalation. _

Vax had felt her move along his body in the wee hours of the morning and he drifted awake slowly with purpose. He noticed her shift along his form almost in discomfort but when she sighed out his name in a very interesting way he suddenly wasn’t sleepy anymore. Her lower half ground down into his thigh as she made absolutely sinful noises mixed in with his name. Her fists clenched and pressed onto his chest while she gasped and ground down. “Vax.” 

In all the nights he had spent with her he couldn’t recall every waking to a wet dream of hers before. And he would have. He was a light enough sleeper most times that even with how relaxed she made him he would have woken to his name. She was getting louder. Whispers evolved to soft noises and she ground down again with more strength before. Eyes flew open and a cry of disorientation met his ears while she looked around wildly. Rapid, shallow breaths warmed his skin while her gaze whirled around the room and her core still pressed to his leg. Her heat palpable and teasing while he ran his hand down her head and back. “Hey. Are you alright?” 

“I. I think so.” Sleep mussed and rough her breathless words spilled forth.

“Bad dream?” He continued to stroke her back and her eyes lost focus for a moment. 

“No. It was a good dream.” She closed her eyes to lean into his touch. 

“How so?” 

Keyleth shifted her body to drag her lower half along his thigh and her hands spasmed as pleasure curled up her belly. “It felt good.” 

“How good?” He knew his tone roughened as he swept her hair back and took her neck in his grasp to bring her up for a kiss. 

“Really good.” She whispered into his lips while he pulled her into to devour her. “I want to feel good now. Please.” 

“Always.” He promised. “Do what feels good, Kiki.” 

“This feels good.” She clenched fists and pulled her lower body back and forth again with a gasp. “Is it okay?” Keyleth felt blurry around the edges, hazy and bright without any of those pesky self doubting thoughts floating around. 

“I love you.” He breathed out, “All okay. Can I touch you?” 

Keyleth nodded as she began to rock her hips along his thigh in earnest with little sighs and gasps. Vax ran his hand along her side and around to cup her breast in his hand. He stroked and pinched the nipple he could feel while she rocked and rocked. Little moans rolled through the air between them and he kissed her again to swallow them down. Her thighs spread over him as she rocked down to press her clit into him as best she could. She was sitting over him hunched and he resisted the urge to grab onto her hips to help direct her. 

Her eyes were shut and brow furrowed while she chased her high. A plump lip disappeared behind bright teeth while she whined in frustration and he couldn’t resist it as his his unoccupied hand stroked up her thigh and over her belly to dip into her underwear. “This okay?” He felt the light dust of hair before his hand found silken wetness and her clit that just wasn’t getting the pressure it needed. Two fingers bracketed it and on her next past she cried out at the new sensation. Heat licked up her spine and she clenched her thighs while he watched her face with rapt fascination. Her knee brushed up along his cock with each roll of her eager hips. 

“Oh. Oh. Yes.” She panted out. Keyleth needed it. She needed to reach that peak again more than she needed anything else. Her dream lit the path her body now barreled down with such exquisite agony. Vax held his fingers there while she rocked sharply with more and more speed. Heat curled tighter and tighter in her belly and her body continued to bow inward as if she couldn’t control it anymore. Moans spilled from open lips with each rock and breath. He felt it against his fingers when the first of her climax rolled through her body and she shook with the power of it. “Vax.” It rolled and trembled through her when he took her mouth again. Her nails dug into the flesh of his chest with each twitch and clench down on nothing. His fingers moved on their own when she couldn't keep up with the rhythm anymore until the tension in her body faded and her heart pounded through her body still sensitive with aftershocks. 

She sank down unable to hold herself up and really not interested in doing so either while she nuzzled at his throat and cheek with small pleased noises of contentment. When he managed to pull his fingers from her tender skin Keyleth let out a whimper and opened her eyes to see him examine his fingers coated with a slickness. Her slickness. Her eyes snapped open fully when he dipped the digits in his mouth and sucked them clean with a pleasant noise laced with desire. She thought of his mouth down where his fingers had been and let out a rough sound while her core spasmed in interest. 

Vax leveled an intrigued look in her direction then leaned down to kiss her. There was a taste aside from his. Sharp and musky. It wasn’t bad but she preferred just to taste his flavor. 

Without the heat and need she felt the chill of the morning more acutely as well as the mess in her underwear and shivered. 

Vax pulled her closer and reached for the blankets to warm her. “Not that I’m complaining but where in the Hells did that come from?”

“Uh. I’m not sure now. I was dreaming and when I woke up, I felt like I needed something. And I wasn’t afraid of getting it.” Her heart still had yet to calm back to its usual speed and neither had his from where it beat near her ear.

“Bold looks beautiful on you, Kiki. The same as timid and shy. You were a goddess made flesh and one I am more than willing to worship any way I can and any way you wish.” 

Keyleth blushed but felt pleased. “I liked it when you put your fingers there.” 

“I thought you would. It wasn’t too much was it?”

Not enough. “No. It wasn’t too much.” 

“It will be time for breakfast soon. Do you want to stay here until they call us down?” 

“Can we take another bath together this time? I need to clean up.” 

“You start. I have something I have to take care of.” 

Keyleth gave him a questioning look as she followed his gaze downward. A tent in his pants caught her eye and at once she reached for it eagerly. “Can I?” Just before her hand wrapped around the clothed erection. 

“You’ll be the death of me, Keek.” He breathed out shakily but nodded and Keyleth wrapped her hand around it while he breathed out through his nose. He started to groan and whine when she brought it out in the air. A bead of arousal pulsed from it and she took it in hand in just the way he liked until his head rolled from side to side out of his control. His hips pushed up while he trembled with a cry of her name and spilled out on his clothes and her hand in several pulses before his bowed back fell to the bed while she kissed him. The glint of glee and pride in her eyes mirrored his. He didn’t deserve such a magnificently bright and beautiful creature as her. 

The bath lacked the passion their morning encounter had been wrought with as they washed each other’s backs and hair with gentle routine. It was easy then to cuddle his sleepy druidess in warm water while he dozed off a little as well. His arms full of her and his heartbeat in her ear. The combination heady in its own powerful way of home and safety, of love and protection and the promise of forever.

It was some time later when Vex knocked on the door and called for them to stop fucking around and come to breakfast in the nicest way possible. 

The soft touches didn’t stop as they dried off. Keyleth’s back to him while he ran the towel over her back and legs and after she wrapped it around her form she did the same for him. They brushed and tended to each other’s hair after they dressed for the day and continued to hold hands down to the breakfast table. Tary greeted them exuberantly while Vex and Percy grinned as they sat down next to each other and started making plans for their day. 

“Did you have a good morning, Keyleth?” 

“Yes?” 

“I heard.” Vex winked in her direction and turned her attention back to her breakfast as if she hadn’t said anything at all. 

Keyleth found the confession to not bother her as much as it would have before. Vex winked at her. That was fucking cool. “Thanks.” Thanks? “Are you going to Vasselheim with us, Tary?” 

“Not this time, unfortunately. I’m still working on Doty 2.0 and I’m at a vital part for the moment. It needs regular attention but maybe next time. I know you’ll miss me.” 

“So much.” Vax teased. “Next time then. Are we ready?” He scooped up the last of the food on his plate and downed the coffee Vex set in front of him while he clapped his hands together. 

“I suppose. Off to the Sun Tree then. Lead the way, Keyleth.” Percy stood with Vex and they made their way to Vasselheim. 

When the weekend finished and the two of them made their way back to their home in Zephrah Vax pointed out the shoots of healthy plants that pressed up through the fertile earth with childlike glee. The excited grin he turned on her yet another reason to love him and there were so many more she had yet to find out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey look. It's a lovely morning romp for the two of them. I rolled this out in record time just in time to write a Widojest (the newest ep lit my shipper heart on fire a little) one shot to go along with my previous story Rapture's Touch. So this will be the last update probably until Monday night my time. Maybe not. It depends on how I'm feeling. I might do both. :) 
> 
> Happy Weekend my lovelies!


	13. The Year- Part Six

The mood didn’t strike her often. Maybe once a week or two when he leveled a look in her direction. One that heated her blood and brought her need for him to the front. The way sweat beaded along his bare back and chest as he worked in the garden or helped with the village chores.

They traveled to Whitestone and Vasselheim often in the next six weeks and separated to go on their own tasks. He to the Raven Queen’s temple and the library there. He spent weekends with his sister and his god. There were some days he came to bed tired and heartsick from the funerals. Her and Percy to their orbs. Crisis Orbs. They were finally getting the last touches on them done and both of them were excited to see if they worked across the vast distances between cities. 

Other days when they were home in Zephrah he astounded her with the way he so seamlessly integrated himself into her life. Into the lives of the Air Ashari and they way he bonded with her father. The little things made her love for him swell in a way she didn’t expect and feared. What would happen in years when she lost him? Keyleth did her best not to think about that as she tried her best to rule her people with his presence at her side. 

The threat of loss is what brought her lips to his in a fevered, hurried embrace. It was the thing about him that he always let her lead their encounters. He never pressed or pushed and it brought a heady sort of power through her limbs as she pinned him with hands to the door and with eager hands she grasped his shirt to lift over his head. Lips and cheek pressed to the flesh revealed hungrily. She tasted the salt of his skin and felt the warmth of it suffuse her with adoration. He was so warm. Her hands stroked up his chest and down his arms to link her fingers through his while he stared down at her with a half smile. Keyleth, brave now, or braver than she had been looped her fingers into his belt and tugged him to the bed. The smile on his lips widened and he followed her eagerly to sit on the bed with a bounce. 

His eyes asked the question hers answered and his hands lifted and unbound her from her shirt and skirts as they fell to the floor. The hard press on the fabric at his waist brought a grin to her lips as she lifted a leg to press her knee into the mattress to follow with the other. It brought her above him and her hair fell in a curtain around their faces while she descended to devour his lips while his hands, broad and lean, strong and gentle caressed her open skin with reverence while his hands buried themselves into her hair. When they parted her neck opened for his eager lips to press into the crest of her neck and down the line of it while his hands pressed back downward. She felt the head of him between her thighs and though there were still thin layers between them she wanted to feel him there. She rolled her hips into the press of his pants and felt the flare of pleasure thrum through her veins while his breath caught along her collarbone. “Kiki.” 

“Vax.” She sighed out and did it again. She needed him. Needed to feel him tonight and know he wouldn’t leave her. It was a constant fear. A constant need within her. One hand stroked up the smooth muscle of her belly and teased her breast into a rounded point while she gasped and clutched at his shoulders. “You’re magnificent.” He whispered tender praise as she rolled into his cock with her heat. Each pass flared through her in a stronger wave and she soon panted into the air over his head while his hand at her hip pressed in to push her down for more contact. “Oh.” She moaned out as he brushed against the place he so loved to touch when they were in the mood. Vax growled out and tilted his hips so he brushed against it again and again. She tilted forward and her praise tumbled from open lips into the bedroom for his ears only. Her hand pressed over his heart. Over the mark from Her and she dug in as it flared brighter and brighter before she tumbled over the edge with a throaty constant moan of his name before he swallowed it in a kiss with a moan of his own. His thrusts into her core lost some of their rhythm while his hand dug in deeper and he moaned a muted version of her name while they kissed and the throb in her core ebbed as the euphoria melted away into satition while they held each other close in the afterglow of shared experience. 

Vax kissed her cheeks and forehead while he caught his breath, “I love you.” 

“I love you, too.” She nuzzled his cheek. 

“What brought that on? Not that I’m complaining.” He stroked up and down the flesh of her back with a couple fingers. 

“I don’t know. I just wanted you.” She sighed out in pleased relaxation.

“We should get married.” 

Keyleth paused, froze really, and tilted her head to stare at him. She was certain she didn’t hear correctly, “What?” 

“Married. Not now or anything but maybe soon. In a year or two. My sister would never forgive us if we up and did it now.” He seemed serious but she wasn’t sure.

“Marriage? To me?”

“No. To Grog.” He deadpanned. “A summer wedding. With flowers in his beard. Of course to you, Keek. What do you think? We could do it here. We probably should, shouldn’t we? Or Whitestone? Would we be able to invite everyone here?” 

“Aren’t we getting a little ahead of ourselves?” 

“Maybe. But we’ve only one life to live. Make the most of it. We don’t have to if you don’t want to though.” 

“No. No. It doesn’t bother me. I was just surprised.” And honestly the longer the thought had time to settle around her mind it seemed more and more appealing. “Maybe in a few years.” 

Vax pulled them backward onto the bed and she fell in a heap at his side as ungraceful as ever. “Vex will be thrilled.” He kissed her on the nose and she laughed. A few years. The thought brought about little butterflies in her belly and she couldn’t help the grin as it blossomed across her cheeks. 

“Yeah.” 

He stayed silent for a while as he threaded his fingers through her waves and sighed, “Not to change the subject but I have a man’s weekend planned with Grog soon. I thought maybe you and the girls could get together and do something fun too? Shopping trip or spa day maybe in Whitestone?”

“What are you and Grog going to do?” 

“What do you think our barbarian friend and I are going to do?” 

“My best guess is that the two of you are going to bash in some skulls and maim several poor people.” 

“Right!” He nodded. “It’s going to be great.” 

Keyleth sighed and rolled her eyes as he rolled them over. “What if I wanted to kill things?” 

“You can go with the girls. This will be a man’s weekend. Piss poor ale and bloodshed. I’ll bring you back a present.” 

“I’m not Vex.” But the idea of a present wasn’t terribly off putting.

“But you do like presents.” 

“Fine. I want something really cool.” 

“As requested, Mistress.” 

“Chief.” Keyleth deadpanned. 

“Fine. Chief. Now. I have to change pants and I think you have to change as well. We’ve got dinner with your dad tomorrow don’t we?” 

“Yeah. What do you plan on talking to my dad about now?” 

“I guess you’ll see.” 

“I don’t like surprises.” She called after him as he stood up. 

“Yes you do.” 

“No.” 

“It’s going to happen.” He stripped his pants off and used a wash basin nearby to towel off a little while she sat up to stare. 

“Not if I tie you to the bed.” 

“Kinky.” He turned around to wink at her and she glowered at him as they readied for bed. In truth he was a little nervous. Asking a father for his blessing in marrying his daughter wasn’t something you did every day. Maybe he would wait a while. Build up to it. They had time. They were still young after all. 

“Maybe after we can try to find the Theater.” His eager eyes belied the boy underneath the man.

“What is it with you and the Theater?” But his exuberance gave him a smile from her lips as they kissed and she sighed, “Maybe after.” Keyleth settled into his arms and he felt his heart beat in time with hers as the moonlight shone down on her from the skylight above. His Tempest and her Knight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's not quite as long as usual but it felt right to end it there. The slow burn is picking up speed. I might do a bit of the Theater stuff but I'm not sure yet. There's not much left of the year but I'll definitely include some tattoo stuff. Not sure when the next one will be but I'm thinking of spreading it out a little bit. Every other day or so for now.


	14. The Year-Part Seven

Over the next few weeks the seasons changed and Keyleth and Vax spent nearly every weekend in Vasselheim or Whitestone. Vax in the service of the Raven Queen and Keyleth in meetings about the new Crisis Orbs and their deployment with Percy. Vex also accompanied her brother often to the funerals he was required to attend and the libraries to pour over books. Percy would join them at times when he could. 

Percy rubbed tired eyes as Keyleth poured over the orb on the pedestal with an equally tired demeanor. “You should get some rest.” They were in the room given to Percy in Vasselheim to work on the Orbs while he remained here.

Keyleth looked up from the orange orb to Percy. “I’m fine.” 

“Won’t Vax be worried about you?” 

“He’s at the Raven Queen’s temple.” 

“It’s getting late.” 

“Sometimes he stays there all night.” She whispered and turned to the red orb. “He’ll come here for me if he gets back before I go to bed.” 

“How are the two of you doing?” Percy didn’t normally inquire about his friends relationships but he saw no harm in it now. 

“Good. Really good.” She smiled over at him. “How about you and Vex?” 

“Excellent. For the most part. We’ve had some issues and disagreements. It is bound to happen with two such strong willed individuals. But I can’t imagine it any other way.” 

“I’m glad. Vax and I don’t have any disagreements. Is that bad?” 

“Not necessarily. At least I don’t think so. I might not be the best person to ask but as long as the two of you are happy then you don’t have to quarrell. It keeps one on their toes.” 

“I mean. Sometimes I get jealous of Her. Vax knows about it. We’ve talked about it.” 

“Gods don’t have the same desires as mortals. It’s what makes them gods. But I can see why it might bother you.” 

“Yeah.” Keyleth sighed and rubbed burning eyes, “Maybe I will go to bed.” 

“Good night.” 

“Have a good night too, Percy.” She waved to him before she made her way back to their room in the tavern. The bed was empty and cold when she dressed for sleep. It took her awhile to drift into some semblance of restful sleep. Vax watched her toss and shift in bed when he arrived in the dead of night. Guilt seeped into his chest while her brow furrowed and lips thinned in what must be a poor dream. He removed his armor with practiced ease and set it in the box under the bed with a whisper of noise. He climbed into bed and slid his arm under Keyleth to pull her to him. 

Keyleth woke from her dream abruptly as warm flesh slid along her arm. Her body shifted at the whim of another as she focused on Vax’s face. He looked tired. “Hey.” 

“Hey, yourself. I’m sorry I wasn’t here for bed. Time runs differently in the temple I think sometimes.” 

“It’s alright.”

“No. It’s not. But eventually things will even out. There were two more funerals today. I’m getting more public speaking experience than I ever wanted here.” He stroked her back. “Surrounded by so much death it’s a wonder the clerics are even sane.” 

“We don’t have to come back for a while.” Keyleth stroked her free hand up and down his bicep. 

Vax didn’t answer her with anything more than a kiss on her head. “I talked to Vex about when she wanted to go to the Feywild.” 

“What did she say?” Keyleth let him change the subject because she could barely focus on what he said.

“She says Percy is dead set against it. Something about it being a bad idea if you get caught watching the Theatre but honestly what could be bad about it? She wants to go in the next couple weeks and I talked to Pike a bit too about it and she really wants to go. Tary too from what Vex said. But really it's up to you.”

“It sounds nice.” Exhaustion laced her tone while the pull of oblivion seemed almost compulsory with everything the way it should be. 

She drifted off to sleep with his hand rubbing circles at her back. 

It was indeed a couple of weeks later when Keyleth and Vax met Vex, Tary, and Pike near the Sun Tree and took the journey to the Feywild to witness the majesty of the Theatre. When they arrived back to Whitestone they found a frantic Percy who enveloped Vex in a hug after he examined her thoroughly and told the Gunslinger about the play they watched. It was the most adrenaline filled few hours of the last couple of weeks and they couldn’t deny the thrill of the danger they flirted with. Instead of going home immediately Vax and Keyleth decided to stay in their room in Vex’s home. 

Which is how they found themselves in the large bathtub surrounded by bubbles. There had been a severe lack of the usual intimacy with the uptick of duties as the Raven’ Queen’s paladin and her work with Percy. 

The strange void, the gap, the lack quickly mended itself as she sunk into the warm water with Vax at her back. Keyleth scooped up a handful of bubbles to fashion herself a beard while Vax played around with his chest to produce some large breasts. He wiggled eyebrows in her direction suggestively while she produced a gust cantrip to ruin his new endowments. Vax chased her around the tub while she struggled and slipped around in his grip until he wrestled her sitting down with her back to his front while he tickled her breathless. 

When he finished she could feel his cock prod at her backside and he gave a sheepish apology, “I can’t help it when a beautiful naked woman wiggles all over me. Ignore it and it will eventually get tired of being here.”

She wasn’t in the mood for much more than being in his arms pressed as close as she could get without melding with him entirely. It was one of the things she loved most about him. One of the hundreds of reasons her heart beat faster when she thought about him. She knew he still had some deep sadness within him. The sadness might never leave him entirely after all he had been through but she couldn’t see it as clearly since she told him she wanted to stop running from her feelings. Since he had been in Zephrah. “Switch me.” Keyleth trailed her fingers through the bubbles and leaned up to look at him. 

“What?” 

“Let me hold you instead.” 

Vax tilted his head to the side but released her to glide through the water as she pressed her back to the side of the tub. Her lean arms encircled his arms and chest while he leaned his head on her shoulder in a mirror of her previous position. She could feel the different textures of his scar on her chest even with the slick water. Her arms shifted around so she could stroke along his arms. A motion behind her head and she pulled a poof from nearby and doused it with soap. With a gentle push she leaned Vax forward and started to wash his back and arms, then moved around to his front to get his chest and belly, legs and feet. Devotion poured from his gaze as he took the poof from her and ran it along her body reverently. When he finished with her she pulled him back to her chest and stroked along the flesh of his neck while his heart beat in a strong cadence while he leaned back with a deep sigh of contentment. 

Contentment. That’s exactly it. The firm belief in him. And he in her. The warmth in her soul as it beat through her with the true knowledge of tranquility. This is what she wanted more than anything else. Nothing could compare to being close to him in body and soul. 

Vax sank into her. Her scent. Her touch. Her unending warmth and care. The way her cheeks reddened when she felt embarrassed. The confidence he watched grow within her every single day in Zephrah as the Tempest. He wanted to be here when she reached the heights he knew she could. Her sunshine. It seeped into his very bones where the cold touch of the Raven Queen lingered. He loved her as much as Vex and that was unfathomable.  
They lingered in the bath until the bubbles faded from atop the water and didn’t stop their embrace when they ran the towel over each other to dry nor did they stop when they nestled down in bed naked. One of the very few times it had happened. 

The only mark on the evening was when Vex knocked on the door and opened it without actually waiting for an answer. Her curved grin when she noticed their state of undress under the blankets and her teasing remark as she blew them a kiss only made the night more interesting. “Dinner will be ready in an hour. Let me know if you are coming down.” With emphasis on ‘coming’. 

“What do you think of a spring wedding?” He asked finally after Vex had left.

“I think spring would be really great for a wedding.” 

“I’ll have to keep that in mind.” Vax leaned down for a kiss as her stomach rumbled loudly. 

Keyleth laughed and pressed her hand to it. “I think the beast is hungry.” 

“Then the beast should be fed. I’ll tell my sister.” 

“That we aren’t coming?” Keyleth couldn’t help but grin and blush at the word coming.

“Not tonight.” He winked and left the room in pants and little else. 

A Spring Wedding. It really did sound nice. Maybe next year.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Expect the updates to get a little sporadic. I'm not sure what's up with my muse but she's not on the same page as me right now. Work is getting sort of a lot and I started a new med that might be making me tired. But I will try to be prompt on my updates and get this all finished up. I'm just about to start VM 102 and I know there's only bad things after. Thank you for the continued reading and I hope you have a good weekend if I don't update before then!


	15. The Year- Part Eight (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Another voyage into the unknown as Vax asks for a taste

The night started with a meal and wine. A fair amount of sweet red wine staining Keyleth’s lips as she glanced shyly at Vax across the table. The telltale heat curled low in her belly while she glanced his way. Built up for some time over the past few days she wanted to kiss him and kiss him until his mouth reddened with her desire. It was the way he played with the children around the village and trained with the men who chose to protect them if they ever needed it. It was the excited way he tended to the blossoming garden with pride. All the little things felt better than anything else did. 

From they way Vax glanced her way after he finished his glass of wine he felt similar to what she did. 

She stood from the table, pleasantly buzzing with inebriation and sauntered with what she hoped was a sultry glance back at Vax. His gaze met hers and heat flared again bright and hot in her belly while he stood slowly. A predator’s eyes now raked slowly up her back while she moved with easy purpose through the living area to the bedroom. Not that they hadn’t kissed and touched here it was just bed was more comfortable and larger. 

Keyleth felt his path behind her but couldn’t hear a thing while he crept along. Gooseflesh peppered her spine and arms as she opened the door and stepped through. She took her time with the removal of her antlers and bracelets. Her corset unbuckled with ease though her fingers shook with her dizzy mental state and excitement. 

His breath floated warm and moist in her ear as his hands eased the light armor from her. His fingers traced along the sides of her arms as it slipped downward to land on the ground. Deft fingers unlaced the back of her dress and it joined the corset on the floor. Her back bared to his gaze. A soft gasp escaped her while those fingers trailed up her shoulders and down her back. 

He took in her lean frame with adoration and fingers traced sharp shoulder blades and the soft curve of her spine as it disappeared into her underwear. Suspiciously absent of a breast band though she didn’t really need one most days. Not since they had less running to do. 

“I have a desire if you’re up for it.” 

Keyleth’s head turned to eye him from her periphery, “A desire?” 

“Something new. That will be fun for us both.” He stroked up along her back then down her arms to lace his fingers with hers. 

“New? Like what?” 

Warm breath turned her insides to jelly as he purred, “I want to taste you, Kiki.” 

Immediately she felt a little confused. Taste? He kissed her already. Tasted her skin with his lips. It took her longer than she would like to admit to figure out what he meant. 

He knew when everything clicked and felt her stiffen as he stifled a chuckle at her shocked squeak. “Oh.” 

“We don’t have to. I’m happy to continue as we have but I haven’t been able to get it out of my head for weeks now.”

She turned around fully now and for a moment he distracted himself with the sight of her chest on full display right before him. “My eyes are up here, honey.” Her wry comment snapped said eyes back up to her. Cheeks red and lip between teeth as she shifted, “Why?” 

“Why?” 

“Why would you want to put your mouth down there? I can’t think it would be very good.” 

“It’s a varied taste. Acquired for the most part but not unpleasant. Certainly tastes better than semen.” 

Her eyes widened further and he did laugh then, “Oh.” Then she swallowed. “Percy was doing that when I saw them. I guess he wasn’t bothered.” 

“I’ll forget you said that since it involves my sister as well. There’s a bit of skill involved as well. Men are easy. There’s a thing between their legs that gets larger when it wants attention. A big sign that as long as you don’t get too rough you can’t get wrong. Women are more difficult. It’s a challenge to find what might bring them the most pleasure. I want to break you apart and put you back together again with your thighs around my ears and your taste upon my tongue and I want you to say yes.” 

Keyleth swallowed at the light in his eyes and the roughness his voice took on as he spoke. Her core throbbed as if to voice it’s opinion on his askance. She swallowed again. He had only ever done anything to please her and never pushed further or asked for anything she did not suggest first. If anything she had to admit some curiosity since that night in Whitestone. Still. She didn’t know how she would feel about it even as she whispered, “Yes.”

Vax’s grin emboldened her, “Thank you. But the rules still stand. If there’s anything you don’t like you need to tell me. I’ll stop.” 

The wine helped her apprehension but didn’t cloud things so much she couldn’t function as he leaned in to kiss her still fully dressed. Arms wrapped around her and pulled her inward while hers lifted to wrap around his shoulders and bury themselves in his hair. 

They continued like that until she relaxed more and he began to move her closer and closer to the bed until the back of her legs bumped into the frame. 

He should have known things would go badly when she squealed and lost her balance. The two of them fell into the bed with next to no grace tangled up and disoriented at the sudden shift. 

Vax recovered first and pulled his shirt off. Still with enough time to readjust Keyleth into a sitting position while his hands roamed over her back and hers over his. Lips met again in a rush while her world righted itself. Another motion and he pulled her onto his lap. Legs on either side of his hips and his mouth still slated over her to swallow her down as best he could. His cock pressed to the juncture between her thighs now damp with arousal from his attentions. Her hips canted softly to relieve some of the pressure built up. Heat flared through her when she did so and the groan lost in their kiss. He parted from her with a look of need and his grip tightened on her hips to hold her still while his mouth trailed down her neck in a familiar path that only made the pressure between her thighs grow and the heat in her flesh burn brighter. His mouth sucked a spot along her collarbone as she let out a breathy sigh. Fingers tightened around his neck and in his hair while he moved downward. 

The smooth, plump flesh of her breast beckoned his lips. The perfect size to fit in his palms they almost begged for his touch flush and pointed in her arousal. He gave into their pleading with open palm on one side and bent neck to the other. A kiss pressed first to the upper swell then a lap at the beaded point to his lips latching around it and gentle suction to accompany his hand. 

A sharp cry echoed through the chamber as she canted her hips from the dizzying rush of lightning and heat with each pull of his fingers and mouth. Her core pulsed and she felt another rush of dampness as it stained her underwear. 

Vax kept up his playing until her cries sharpened and with reluctance he released her to kiss her again. Sufficiently relaxed he lifted her from his lap and helped her to lie back onto the bed. It was short work to take off his pants and really freeing as his cock bobbed in the open air leaking and a bit distracting. 

Sprawled out and languid she was certainly a goddess made for him as he crawled over her body, “I’m going to undress you now, love. Then I’ll put my mouth on you and make you see stars.” He promised as her breaths, already fast, choked off then started again. He pulled back to hook dexterous fingers into the sides of her underwear and pulled down until it hung loose from her body in his fingers. 

She pulled her legs together a little, shy and bit her lip as she stared down her body at him. 

Vax lifted one foot from the bed and began to kiss it. Along the sole, the ankle, up her calf and to her knee. He did the same to the other. Unhurried and with revere until her legs fell open and he continued up her thighs with the same slow motion until his mouth pressed to the seam between leg and hip and she gasped while she watched him. 

He went over to the other side and did the same thing. Another sharper gasp spilled forth with his tongue slid up the seam next. He pressed a kiss to her core then and she couldn’t look away. 

Vax took a moment to admire her. Soft, thin red hair adorned her here like it did her legs. Sparse but present and he pressed another kiss to her, then another as he swam in her heady scent until he pressed inward just a little to measure her reaction. 

A sharp choked laugh spilled out of her as her legs clamped on either side of his head. Sensitive. Too sensitive for now. He moved aside for his hand to start it’s work and with a few passes of fingertips through her wetness he stroked along the outer edges and the sides of her clit gently to work out her sensitivity. 

Keyleth gasped and bucked gingerly with the familiar feel of Vax’s fingers as more taut pressure pulsed through her body when a wet sensation pressed down again to her walls she let out a louder moan. 

Heat curled up then from his mouth and the wet softness of his tongue while it stroked and feasted on her down low then up near where things felt the best. She bucked and whined, grasping sheets as things started to spiral out of her control until all she could really do was feel the heat between her legs. 

Vax curled his arms under her hips and brought his hands down to keep her still and spread. She was so hot down here. Hot and musky and slick. He could die down here as long as it meant he could keep doing this forever. She tasted like the forest, like wild things and he pressed inward to lap at her hardened bud with fervor. 

Keyleth scrambled and tried to arch into his mouth as fire raced from his mouth everywhere and nowhere. It felt more intense than with his hands and she knew something was about to happen but she couldn’t think. All she could do was feel the hot, bright white light explode within her into a million pieces. Starlight flashed in vision clouded by heat and sensation. Ecstasy boiled through her and she cried out ragged and needing while he continued to work her. 

It eased off into a languid honeyed raw feeling but as she stared down at him with blurred eyes and his name on her lips he wrapped his lips around her again and sucked. Heat built again and she moaned open and loud when the trembling started again. It felt a little like flying. Like falling through the sky only to land somewhere where she couldn’t do anything but feel. 

Vax watched her break apart again and with greed coursing through him he wanted to break her again and again until she couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe without thinking of him. Wanted to give her everything he could. The world. He wanted to show her how much he loved her. How precious she was to him. How much he needed her. 

With a third scream of his name Vax realized he needed to stop and so he brought her down slowly, his mouth and chin covered in her release while he gently cleaned up his mess. 

Keyleth was a mess of sensitivity as her very skin tingled with the aftershocks and her mind couldn’t from thoughts let alone sentences while she whined and shuddered. She reached for him mindlessly and he lifted his body to pull her inward and stop her trembling. Eventually things calmed and when she was able she giggled into his chest. 

“Did you like it then? Was it too much?” 

“Yes. And Yes. But I liked it a lot. We could do it again. Not tonight though. Can I do it to you?” She was definitely recovered.

“Not tonight. You’re exhausted. Weak as a kitten from all the thrashing about you did.” 

And he was right. She didn’t think she could move let alone do anything more. It was a nice feeling. “Can I watch you?” 

Vax let her watch as he brought himself to a quick climax with the taste of her still on his lips. The sounds of her screams in his ears and her eyes on him now. Filled with love and deeper things. 

After he finished he brought a towel to clean things up. Softly patted between still responsive thighs as she laughed, “I really made a mess.” 

“You did. I loved it.” 

“Really?” 

“Really. I would do it every day if I could only to watch you come apart.” 

“I love you too.” He helped her back into her underwear and shirt as he donned pants and they curled up together with yet another step of intimacy achieved.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just smut. Gratuitous smut. I've gotten a bug to write my book so I'll be doing my best to work between my book and this story in the next week. Expect another chapter before the weekend but we are getting closer to the end. See you soon lovelies! :)


	16. The Year- Part Nine (M)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keyleth tries something new and it doesn't end quite how they imagined. Also. Date Night!

Keyleth proudly stared at the orb currently held in place by its casing and under guard by two of her trusted warriors. They had been installed in all the major cities including the Ashari ones just a week ago. When tested they performed just as Percy said they would. 

Vax took her joy in hand as they stared at it the first day together. He had been busier recently with his sister and his duties as a Paladin but not so much as to inspire loneliness. The tomatoes grew in lush and red and Vax with innocent glee harvested and ate each one he could. Keyleth joked that he might turn red with his diet. Vax was hardly discouraged. Of course, Keyleth had also been busy with her new business. Co owned business in Whitestone named the Slayer’s Cake. A drunken idea turned profit run mostly by Vex, Pike, and Tary but with contributions from each of them in the form of recipes or time. It was fun to start something with her friends. To do something that didn’t make her feel responsible for the lives of others. 

Within a week or two after Vax tasted her she wanted to to the same to him. So she kissed him with intent, stroked his skin and whispered her intentions in a way that seemed a lot sexier than when she actually said it. He gave her a gallic shrug and a smile while he let her lead him to bed. 

Keyleth helped him out of his clothes eager to try something new and soon he lay naked before her on the bed. Tanned skin lined in places with scars. Some nights she would trace each one with a light finger and he would tell her over and over again about each one if he remembered. Dark hair wreathed his features while his eyes glowed and followed each movement she made. She stripped down to a breast band and underwear just to even the clothes situation while her gaze zeroed in on his cock as it stood erect from a soft nest of sparse curls. He smelled divine and even now she prowled as she would in her Minxie form over his body. The look in her eyes brought a soft sound from parted lips while his pupils widened and his talented tongue swiped at his lip to wet it. 

Heat, familiar and good, curled under her skin while she bent down and kissed him silly. Hands and lips trailed down his body methodically and each hitch from his mouth or nose when she hit a sensitive spot curled through her as well. 

It was a whim when she found her eyes level with his lean chest and tanned nipple. She leaned down and her tongue darted out to taste his skin there. Arms lifted from the bed to grasp at whatever part of her he could while he shifted underneath her with another released huff. It made her move to the other one and do the same thing. He chuckled at her fondly while she peeked up at him with a grin of mischief. She felt the soft pressure of his fingertips as they ran through her hair while she journeyed further down toned stomach with the press of her lips. The heat of him she could feel even though his sensitive flesh hadn’t yet touched her skin. 

Keyleth opened her mouth wide and moved to the side where his hip bone pressed up under his flesh. Teeth sunk into it and the meat of his hip but not cruelly. Just to heighten the suspense and give her a true taste of salty, warm skin. The hand at her scalp tightened with the dull drag of short nails and she sighed into her bite. She pulled her teeth back and her lips formed a brief suction to bring more of his taste into her. As if she could drink him down and keep him within her forever. It didn’t leave more than a light red mark when she pulled back and gazed down at it fondly. Mischief and play flitted through her racing heart as she kissed now at the crest of his hip where the V of his belly began, ignoring the pulsing heat near her neck. She was sure her hair played along the edge of him to tease while she licked a long line to the bottom where the soft hair around his shaft began. 

HIs hand hadn’t relaxed from her head but she didn’t mind. To have him hold her to keep grounded. A quick glance in her periphery pleased the dark needy thing in her chest to see him eager, wanting, and just for her. Tense with waiting as she lifted up and slid downward to bring him to the fore of her attention. It wasn’t the first time she would look upon his flesh and it wouldn’t be the last. But it was still quite a sight. Proud, soft, darker than his other skin, and slightly curved near the top. It was just a beautiful as the rest of him. The skin around the head was quite sensitive from what she learned of her previous explorations. Her hands ran up from his knees with light pressure and she could feel the tension in his muscles as they came to rest near his hips. 

She couldn’t help her tongue as it swiped at her lip. Her mouth watered at the thought of tasting this part of him. To her surprise it twitched and she glanced up at him when she heard the whine through pursed lips, “Kiki. You’re killing me.” 

“Not yet. But I will bring you back to life.” It was a silly quip but all the same she said it as she leaned in to rub her cheek once more along the soft steel. Her nose ended near his hip where the soft hair began and she took a deep breath of him. His scent thicker here, primal, and pure and she wanted to drag more into her lungs and so she did. Scenting him as if she were really an animal to let it swim through her. She could stay here forever just taking him in but resisted further inhalation and instead turned her head. Her first taste of him much the same as his skin elsewhere but his hand tightened again on her. The huff of sound music to her ears as she did it again. Small laps around the base to start. She had done some reading and possibly even asked for advice on the subject from a few people close to her but would never talk about such things again. 

Eventually she pulled up from the base and further with laps and small touches of her lips to him. Soft sighs and whines filtered down as he shifted under her hands but didn’t move and didn’t do anything with his hand on her head except just keep it there. She liked this. It was fun. Her tongue circled around and a sharp salty taste hit it from where he began to leak with his excitement. It wasn’t wonderful but she was sure that whatever came from her wasn’t either and so she boldly followed the trail up to the tip of him. A loud groan poured from his mouth and his nails dug in again briefly while she swirled around then back down like one of those sweet frozen treats she had once before in Emon during winter.

It was more of that before she took a deep breath and descended with open mouth to pull some of him in. Shallowly she enveloped him careful to keep her teeth out of the way and sucked. “Kiki.” He groaned and shifted again under her. She didn’t want to get too carried away but did move one of her hands to curl around the base of him while she sucked and laved him like he was the sweetest dessert as more of the salty fluid of his seed seeped from him. Sometimes she even reached below and stroked at the soft sac below with a whispered warning to be gentle with it from Vax. She varied technique and speed until she could see his struggle to stay still and the noises increased in volume and frequency. Most of them her name and other of praise which she blossomed under and perhaps that might have been a bad thing. Overeager she pulled him in a little deeper and moaned with her own pent up need. Between her thighs throbbed and pulsed with heat and the desire to be touched but she used it to focus on him. 

A second hand joined the first and he tried to pull her off with a strained, “Kiki. I’m...Oh Gods.” He tried and sputtered but she kept going stubbornly not quite understanding why he wanted her to stop. He was close. She could feel it in his legs and see it in the way he trembled and moaned. She wasn’t leaving. 

Vax couldn’t think, couldn’t see, for the tension in his limbs. Her mouth felt like rapture and all he wanted was more of it. Warmth and softness and her eager eyes as he watched her take him down. It was so tight in his belly. His back. In his thighs as he tried to fight it off and pull her up. He wasn’t sure if she would want to swallow him down. Stubborn Kiki. Another strong pull and he half thrust into her mouth with another groan. His heart beat roared in his ears and he couldn’t think. Eyes crossed and he tried once more to tug her up but she doubled down and took him deeper. 

Vax shouted her name as he thrust up into her mouth before he could stop himself. She felt the first throb and splatter of his seed at the back of her throat. Her eyes immediately teared up as the tip of him hit her gag reflex and she choked and coughed. Hands yanked her firmly from off of his still spurting cock as she hacked and coughed while tears spilled down her cheeks. The bitter taste sat on her tongue while firm hands wrapped around her arms and she was hauled up to see a blurry concerned half elf while he tried to keep her head up. Eventually she recovered from her spell with tears still leaking from her eyes and her face burned with horrific embarrassment. 

“Are you...Are you okay?” Vax’s horrified gaze bored into her as she felt like she wanted to disappear. That was probably the least sexiest thing that had ever happened to anyone. Ever. 

“Yeah.” She coughed again roughly. 

Vax’s lip twitched once, then again before a grin split his lips and he started to chuckle. Laugh. Laugh with his entire body while he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her to his chest. “Took a little more than you could swallow then. I tried to tell you, Kiki. It’s a skill. But I have to tell you that it was magnificent even with how it ended.” 

“If you say so.” She coughed again and Vax turned his body from her to retrieve a glass of water from the nightstand. Unsure of how long exactly it had sat there he figured that since it was water it was probably fine as he handed it to her and she swallowed some down to help with her hoarseness. 

“Maybe not in the way you hoped but we’ve learned now, haven’t we?” He laughed and eventually she slapped his chest playfully and laughed with him. What was intimacy if you couldn’t laugh together about bedroom debacles one supposes? 

The next morning when they awoke and started out for the day Keyleth stared at the Mantle before she fastened it at her throat and let it hand behind her. It was heavy and unwieldy. Maybe she could find a better way to keep it with her. 

Later in the week while they relaxed in the spring together she brought it up to Vax.

“A tattoo? Are you sure, Keyleth?” He gave her a dubious eyebrow while he scrubbed his arms. “I can’t imagine you having anything on your skin like that.” 

“Really? I mean it wouldn’t be that bad I think.” 

“Over your entire upper torso?” 

“Well just here.” She gestured to her shoulders and collarbone area. 

“That’s bone. And that’s going to hurt like a bitch.” 

“I’m tough. I’ve been beaten bloody and bruised by a ton of creatures bigger than me. A bit of hammer and needle won’t be that bad.” She took the cloth from his grasp and moved around to his back to scrub. 

“Maybe I’ll get one too.” He turned his head to catch her gaze. 

“You should. We could do it together.” 

“It’s a date.” He winked at her and all she could do was laugh. There had never been anyone happier than they were now. An innocent thought but one they believed wholeheartedly in this moment and the ones before. 

And it was a date of sorts. When she came to the tribe’s artist and explained her intention the older woman looked her over and started to sketch out several designs. The first day was a discussion of placement and art and the next was filled with her laid out on her belly with Vax near her head, talking to her about everything and nothing at all to keep her mind off of the feel of the needle, hammer and ink in her skin. At first it wasn’t really all that bad. Just a little sore but as the artist started around bone and thinner places she really started to feel each hammer and stab into her flesh. Each wince had him take her hand in his and he let her squeeze it when she could. She couldn’t come up with the words to let him know how much she loved him for it so just smiled let her gaze show him her adoration while he continued his best to distract her. It took two full days to complete the design front and back and the skin around it pink and tender to the touch. “Do not use your magic to heal this or it will not set properly and you will have gone through all this pain for nothing, Tempest.” 

Her assistant on the second day spoke with Vax about the simple design for his tattoo and started on it near midday. Just a simple pair of antlers on his right bicep that didn’t really hurt much by the time she had finished. He made sure at least one hand had remained in Keyleth’s when the artist had her upright to work on her upper torso. In the end the intricate whorls and leaves made a beautiful picture on tanned and freckled skin. She spread a salve on Keyleth’s tattoo and placed a thin cloth over it to keep the new ink and tender skin protect from friction and sun as did the assistant for Vax and given strict instructions on the care of the skin for the next few weeks while it set. 

Vax dutifully and happily massaged the salves and oils into her skin where she couldn’t reach and kissed her neck where the tattoos weren’t each day he could. She did the same for him with a small smile when she really looked at it for the first time. “For me?” 

“Always.” And he meant it. 

When they made another trip to Whitestone Vex and Percy as well as Tary were all taken aback by their new additions.Grog gave him a solid high five as well as Keyleth the next time they met up with him. Vax realized that In just a few months it would make just over a year when they killed Raishan and destroyed the Chroma Conclave. And Vex was planning a vacation. To where they didn’t know but she promised they would absolutely love it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Not dead. But I did have a little lull of inspiration with these two for the week. I decided to start from episode one of VM instead of diving into the end arc and all that pain. Also working on Book 2 a bit which was nice and a bit of Skyrim as well. I would say there will be at least one chapter a week. I hope you have an excellent week, lovelies and I look forward to hearing from you!


	17. Bad Dreams

Keyleth came awake with a shuddering inhale soaked in cold sweat and heart beating at a near breakneck pace. She shot up in bed as her throat spasmed with the remnants of fear and adrenaline from the world of dreams. 

A hand on her arm and the near immediate presence at her side had her startled for a moment before she recognized Vax and blinked as she looked at him in the dark of the room. Shades of grey illuminated by moonlight as his expression filed through as one of concern. Keyleth swallowed, “I’m okay. I’m fine. Just a bad dream.” She managed to breath out in response to his questions muffled by the blood in her ears. 

“You scared me half to death, Kiki. What in the world were you dreaming about?” He brought his hands up to cradle her chin and cheeks while his thumbs swept along her cheekbones and found tracks of moisture drying from recently shed tears. 

Keyleth tried to remember what had thrust her into the world of waking and could only remember sights, sounds, screams in flashes of broken memory. Blood spilled across a stone floor, sightless eyes and sobs of broken hearts as they echoed through her consciousness but nothing she could grab onto and talk about. “I don’t remember. There was a lot of blood and death and screams. The feeling that I let everyone down. That something bad had happened because of me to the rest of our family.” The burn and pressure in her chest was so palpable she winced and Vax’s concern deepened when he brought her head forward to touch his with each of his hand still on her face. This close she could almost see past his eyes into his soul, open and full for her. 

“Just a bad dream then. It’s no wonder with all of the quiet we’ve had lately. There's a bit of limbo where we almost anticipate the other shoe to drop and destroy our lives because we’ve had a constant stream of battle and trials practically since we’ve met. This lull only breeds fear of what will come next.”

“Yeah. It felt so real but I can’t remember anything now. What if it was another vision of the future or a warning?” 

“Or nothing at all but a tense mind that needs a bit of time away from responsibility, yeah? How about we take a few days and go to Whitestone to visit Percy and my sister? You can check in on the bakery and maybe even have a girls day to help you relax?” His hands left her face and he dropped his arms to wrap them around her and pull her as close as their bodies would allow in the position they were in.

She turned her head to bury her forehead and face into his neck and shoulder and took a long, deep draw of his scent into her lungs. It swam about and sunk into her tense shoulders to slowly relax her into his body. “Yeah. That sounds fun.” 

He turned his head to kiss the side of her head, “Nothing bad is going to happen to anyone alright? Get that out of your head. We’ve got loads of time together to worry about the future and my other responsibilities. Dreams can’t hurt anyone. I’ve had enough bad dreams in my life to know.”

“You’ve never woke me up with them.” 

“I’ve learned not to make a big ruckus when I wake up. I’ve had a few more than I’d like recently but nothing out of the ordinary. Just old fears coming to bother me from time to time.” 

“What do you dream of?” 

“My mother. What her death might have been like when Thordak torched our village. If my and Vex’s presence would have made a difference. If we could have prevented it. I dream of Percy’s death, Scanlans, Vex’ahlia’s, Grog’s, Pike’s, and Tiberius’s. I dream of the black void of the embrace of the Raven Queen that awaited me when I died. I dream of losing you to something or someone. Of falling.” He stroked up and down her back as he whispered into the darkness between them. 

“All the time?” 

He chuckled, “No. Of course not. I mostly dream of you. The things I want to do with you over the next hundred years or so. Of the moments we’ve already had. Of what you might look like at our wedding whenever it may or may not be. I dream of my sister and her future. She’s always wanted a big family and I think Percy might too. I dream of Scanlan and Pike and Grog all being happy with the rest of us. I have a lot to be thankful for and a lot of good things in my life to dream of. It doesn’t make the bad dreams leave completely but I know they can’t hurt me anymore.” 

“I thought I was supposed to be the wise one.” She kissed the side of his neck, “I feel silly now and I’m sorry for waking you up.” 

“Never be sorry for that. It’s my job to keep you safe even from your own mind. For as long as you’ll have me but you already know that, don’t you?” 

“Yeah.” He had started to rock the two of them back and forth subtly. “You could have told me you had nightmares too. I want to know about that stuff too.” 

“It’s not a big deal. They don’t scare me like I told you before. But I suppose I could always wake you up to cuddle anytime I wanted if that was the case.” His hand drifted down her back to take an ample squeeze of her backside before he pulled her up fully onto his lap and scooted back on the bed. 

Keyleth shifted and pulled her legs out from underneath her to stretch them over his thighs while she sat cuddled up to his chest while he sat against the headboard. “Always.” 

“Do you want me to sing to you? Did you want to get some more sleep?” 

Keyleth moved her hands to trace patterns over the warm flesh of Vax’s chest and drifted over the bruise like mark on his heart. “I probably should. Who knows what tomorrow is going to come up with.” She closed her eyes and splatters of blood flashed through her mind. Her shiver had his arms tighten around her. 

“Or we can just sit here and snuggle for as long as you want.” 

“Well then we’ll never leave.” She smiled as she took another drag of his scent into her lungs. It was the desire to know his scent as her home and imprint it onto her senses for as long as she lived. 

“I wouldn’t complain. Well. At least until I needed to take a piss and if you wanted you could come with me to do that too.” 

Keyleth wrinkled her nose and tilted her head up to look at him, “That’s disgusting.” 

“Then don’t look.” He teased. 

They were silent for a while when Keyleth sighed and asked, “What sorts of things do you dream about with our future besides a wedding?” 

“Oh. Lots of things,” he shrugged. “Things like this mostly. Just us. Together. Sometimes I think about adding to the house. Another room maybe. For more family members.” 

“Kids?” The flash of the child’s neck as it broke flashed through her mind quickly but left less of a guilty feeling than it used to. 

“Sometimes. But only if you wanted them too.” 

Keyleth had put a lot of thought into children. Every time she watched Vax talk and interact with children a little part of her warmed at the sight. Sometimes she even dreamed of a little boy with his eyes and smile or a girl with dark curly hair and laughter in her eyes. Those dreams did not happen often and the thought of another person she would end up watching grow old and die in front of her didn’t appeal but maybe when they were older. “Maybe. We’re still pretty young and there’s so much about our lives that might get in the way right now.” 

“Later then. We can talk about all of that later.” He started to hum a tune and she joined him for a while until the vibration of his chest soothed her into slumber. She was a warm creature filled with joy and light despite the duty placed upon her by her people. He had come to her plenty of times troubled by his duty to the Raven Queen and she opened her heart and arms wide and held him just as he held her now. It was what love was, right? To give and take in equal parts one another and make each other better people. One finger traced along her cheekbone dotted with soft skin and freckles and her lip twitched with the sensation. The same hand traced along her shoulders and the patterns of her healed tattoo with practiced ease.

He thought about a little girl with dark red hair and freckles racing through the air with all of her mother’s strength. Maybe one day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm a little over a week so I'm sorry. I got caught up in a few things like my job and also writing my book with the bit of inspiration I had this last week. Oddly enough this chapter came really easy to me after I read a reply to a comment I left on someone else's fic that they loved my story and loved that I loved theirs too. So yay! Anyway I should see you guys next week. I don't think we'll get much past 20 chapters so be prepared. 
> 
> Also going to Ren Faire this weekend and I have an awesome little ranger outfit and I'm SO EXCITED!!!!
> 
> Thanks for reading!


	18. Black Lace

It was a day like any other. Vax followed her around Zephrah like a bright shadow behind her. She left him playing with a few children of one of her warriors. Three girls and a boy tumbled over and chased Vax around with play swords while he feigned fear and ran from them. Something warm and sharp pulsed through her torso at the sight and softened. Maybe kids wouldn’t be such a bad thing in a few years. The smile on his face and the exaggerated way he played belied his joy at the simple game. She decided to leave him to his game with a kiss propelled by a gust cantrip as she walked back to their home. When she entered the plans for their addition lay open and pinned on the table where the two of them as well as a carpenter and builder discussed them over the past few days. 

Rumors flew around the city about a possible child with the preparations for more space which were quickly quelled by both her and Vax but it would still be a great addition for storage at the very least. A guest room more likely for Vex and Percy to visit them here which she knew would make Vax really happy. Keyleth would do anything to make him happy. 

Which is the thought that brought her to the small bag underneath several clothing items hidden from view. A purchase she made with reservation back in Whitestone when they last visited. 

Vex caught her and fed her alcohol with Pike and questioned her about her sex life. If that wasn’t strange enough her near sister hauled her up, still drunk and brought her to a little shop with no name, knocked three times and pulled her into the shop door when it opened. Keyleth nearly shot to the ceiling when she saw what rested on the walls and in glass cases all around. “I didn’t know you guys had a sex shop.” Pike stared around wide eyed at all the penises and other apparatuses all around them. 

“I’m not sure I should be here.” 

“Nonsense. Percy is keeping Vax busy and I’m going to help you.” 

“Have sex with your brother?”

“It sounds so much weirder when you say it like that. I’m going to help my friend find something really pretty to wear if she wants to impress her...lover...is that a good word for the two of you?” 

“Lover sounds so much sexier than boyfriend.” Pike half slurred out while she picked up a set of soft manacles with a curious look. 

“Yeah but...this place has a lot of things that I--.” Her gaze landed on a rather large molded cock made of glass, “--How would that even fit inside someone?” Horror blanketed her question while Vex cackled with laughter at the ashen look on Keyleth’s face. 

“Very carefully I would imagine.” Vex answered as an older woman came around a corner to greet them. 

It only got worse from there as this older woman started to ask questions no one had ever asked her before about her sex life. Keyleth might actually have turned into a freckled tomato with how red her face was by the end and how the woman might have actually thought she had a speech impediment. 

Luckily Vex only had an outfit in mind and even those brought more heat to her face as the woman had her strip down to her underwear and took measurements. Pike and Vex both sat on a cushioned bench sipping on a flask while they watched. “You are a pretty little thing aren’t you? Nice hips, small perky breasts, a fine waist and long fingers. Your man is lucky to have you.” The woman named Melda took her breasts in hand and gave them a brief squeeze before she nodded and left Keyleth feeling a little violated while Pike and Vex grinned. 

The changing room was blessedly empty as she tried on three different lace covered slips of clothing soft on her skin. One a deep green that looked a little like a tunic save for the open belly and the bare scrap of cloth covering her bits. The next was a bright red in two pieces that had even less covering her and the third made her feel dangerous and even maybe a little bit sexy. 

Black silk pushed her breasts up enticingly while lace peeked up to give the illusion of coverage with the rest of the creamy skin. It folded at her back and the sleeves were a strange stretchy material that looped around her upper arms in mimicry of vines. The bottom was also silk and lace artfully designed to look a little like flowers with small bows tied onto the sides and a bit of ribbon trailing off them. It made her legs look longer, her breasts bigger, and her waist more of an hourglass. The black was an added bonus and as she modeled this third one Vex’s eyes narrowed on her with interest as she stood and approached. 

Her gaze locked onto the druid as she approached and stalked around her form cuving until she came about to the front again. There was a heat, an interest to her gaze Keyleth hadn’t seen before as Vex’s tongue peeked out ever so slightly to lick at her upper lip, “You look good enough to eat, Keyleth. If things had gone differently I would have made a meal out of you.” 

The words curled strangely in her belly and twisted around in a way that only Vax made her feel. It confused her but luckily Vex pulled back before she could make much of it. 

“Wow, Keyleth. You are going to knock Vax off his feet with that. It’s so sexy.” 

Keyleth fidgeted but couldn’t help but preen under the praise. 

The outfit was far too expensive but Vex managed to haggle the price down enough to make Keyleth take it home in a package and leave it hidden until tonight. 

She wanted to knock Vax off his feet. To take his breath away and to make him look at her the same hungry way Vex did and wanted to maybe finish what they started between them. To lie with him in body and soul and cement their bond of flesh. It was a long drawn out way to say that she wanted to have sex with him and didn’t want to wait until there was some arbitrary day or time because in truth there would never be the perfect time. If she waited until things were perfect they might never do anything at all. 

She blamed nerves when her hands trembled to open the ribbon wrapped package and drew it open. The black lace peeked out from underneath one corner as it folded up and she exposed the rest with a slow exhale. It was a pretty slip of a thing and she picked up one piece to examine it again. The bottoms dangled from her fingers while she picked up the top with it’s long ribbon draping but beneath it there was a sheer black something. Laying both pieces atop her arm she pulled out a nightdress with lacing at the bottom and thin straps at the top. It would do absolutely nothing for warmth or coverage but she did spot a note at the bottom of the package. 

_ A little extra for you darling. Something to complete the outfit._

In Vex’s pretty scrawl and Keyleth couldn’t help the grin as she undressed to her bare skin and began to pull the soft material over her feet and up thin legs. In another few minutes she had the top on as well and turned to look in the mirror. It covered up all the necessary bits but still made her breasts look fuller and larger than they actually were and popped out against her lightly tanned and freckled skin. 

She wasn’t certain how much time she had before Vax would come back and so she set to work combing through her hair to make it look a little less like she had been out all day long and more like she had actually planned this. 

After a bit more fidgeting she pulled the see through slip over her head and felt it swirl around the tops of her thighs before she sat on the bed and tried to look relaxed even if it was the exact opposite in reality. 

She heard the door a little while later and Vax’s voice rang out from the front room. “Hey, Kiki. Sorry I’m a bit later than I said I was going to be. Those kids just kept putting on this face and I couldn’t tell them no.” 

“It’s okay, Vax. I understand.” She thought she had done a really good job of keeping her voice steady though a fine tremble vibrated her fingers and she dug them into the bed to stop. 

“I was thinking of going to see your dad tomorrow night with you for dinner. That sound alright?” She heard him moving around the house long since tuned into the quiet way he moved about as part of instinct even while they were in safety. 

“Yeah.” 

“You feeling okay, Keyleth? Are you in the bedroom?”

“Yes.” She called out and the footsteps changed direction and volume as he approached so she pulled a leg up onto the bed and leg the other dangle a little off of it as the door opened. 

Dark hair met her gaze as Vax’s head turned to the side looking at something as he walked into their bedroom. Without turning he pulled the plain shirt he wore off of his head and up over his arms just as he turned to look at her with a smile. His hair and arms were still caught in the cloth of his action and as soon as he laid warm eyes onto her black clad form they went wide and his smile dropped. Well not so much his smile as his jaw dropped and he stood there looking like a deer caught in the open. His jaw closed, opened, closed and he took in her body greedily. 

Warmth curled under her skin like a summer breeze in sunlight and she smiled with more bravery than she felt as she pushed up from her leaned pose and stood. The black silk vines trailed and licked at her calves while she crossed the room to stand before him. She swore she saw a bit of moisture at the corner of his lip while he just stared at her. 

With her smile still bright she leaned up and close and lifted her arms to grasp the shirt still held above. It brought her breasts closer to his face and predictably his gaze settled on them while she pulled and released the waves of his hair and arms. The soft strands framed his face beautifully while she dropped the cloth to the floor. They stood close and just stared for the span of ten heartbeats before Vax stepped forward, wrapped one of his arms around her, used the other arm to slam the door shut and spun her around to press against the cool wood. She squeaked as his eyes burned, “You look good enough to eat, Kiki. Like a present wrapped up just for me.” One arm still surrounded her waist and the flesh of his chest, belly, arm, and hand felt like fire in the way they made her burn even through the sheer fabric. His other arm lifted with a shift to his shoulder as she felt a finger press along the strap of her dress and brassiere, then dipped over the prominent swell of her breasts pressed up and eager for attention then to the space between before it drifted to the other side. 

He looked ever the hungry beast ready to devour her and the thought made her dizzy. “For you.” She agreed, unable to come up with something better. 

“Is this what you were doing with my sister while Percy and I chatted? It screams Vex'ahlia but now I know she saw you in this before me. Did she like it as well?” 

Keyleth nodded, “I wanted to do this for you. I wanted to show you all the different ways I love you.” 

“I love it. I love you.” He rumbled and Keyleth watched his gaze darken just before he captured her lips in a kiss and her body to the door. When they parted he panted, “Gods I love you, Kiki.” 

Keyleth, previously passive raised her hands and buried them into his hair while she pulled him down and arched up to pull him into a bold, bruising kiss. “Show me. Everything.” She hissed into the space between them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I'm leaving the note at the bottom forever but the next chapter is going to be IT. The sex. So I'm going to craft it meticulously and release it when it is ready which I hope will be sometime next weekend at the latest. I'm super excited. 
> 
> And thinking about an AU. But we shall seeeee! I hope you lovelies have a good weekend!


	19. First and Forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's sex guys. That's it. Enjoy!

Vax couldn’t do anything more than let the shock of her demand roll through him and a darker part of him answered with a low growl. “Are you sure, Kiki?” 

She nodded, bright eyed and innocent still with flushed cheeks and expectation within. “I want it. Everything.” 

“Why the sudden change?” He stroked up and down her arm while they faced each other a mere inch away. 

“Because I want you. All of you. Heart and soul I need you with me and I want to share this with you.” Still as soft as she made him he melted yet a little more for her while he bent down to kiss her with the shreds of control that yet remained after each peek downward led him to creamy flesh wrapped in black lace. 

Vax leaned back from the wall and with a heft pulled her up to pin her against the door. Calloused fingers dug into the muscles of her upper thighs while he grinned at her squeak. Hands scrambled for purchase and found it in the muscle of his upper shoulder. Without thinking he was sure he felt her legs wrapped around his hips to hold her steady but she was a light thing. It was simple mechanics of using the door to hold most of her weight. “Look at how beautiful you are. How fucking perfect with your shining eyes and freckles. I want to kiss each one and count them like stars. I do sometimes to sleep after you drift off. I don’t think I have the number right and I haven’t even begun with your shoulders either.” Vax mouthed a familiar path down her neck to shoulder while he maneuvered her hips until he heard the telltale catch in her throat. There. 

“Vax,” Keyleth whispered and kissed the flesh he allowed her to reach. One hand drifted up to curl his long dark hair over pointed ear to kiss him there too. His ears were sensitive enough but not in the same way as hers. 

“Those perfect cheekbones, soft rosy lips, hair as mesmerizing as a dancing flame,” He whispered close to her skin while his hands pulled her hips further apart. 

She was dizzy and hot in a more intense way than she remembered from before. The room spun and she found she couldn’t breathe as he whispered praise in her ear. It worsened still when she felt the hard press of him still clothed against her lace covered bits. The angle of her legs caused the lace to rasp along her sensitive flesh and the texture sent her reeling with all she could do to keep focused. She dug in harder with her hands to keep steady. 

His pace was unhurried but thorough while he rutted against her. The lace at her breasts scraped his chest as well and the added sensation a welcome one while he bit and nipped her skin pink while she gasped and shuddered in his grasp, “Your tits are perfect, Kiki. The perfect size and so pretty wrapped up for me. You look like a treat. Did you know that? Perfect to devour you body and soul. A wicked girl.” He wasn’t sure what possessed him to get so chatty tonight but each word he spoke seemed to have an effect. Chest heaving, cheeks and further flushed with blood while she moaned almost a continuous low tone. Greedy. He was greedy. He pulled her hips further apart still until he knew her clit rubbed on each stroke while he quickened his pace. 

“Oh!” She cried out while her vision dimmed and tunneled and skin flared and danced with the storm of her climax rapidly approaching. She curled inward and clung to him as the fine tremble began in her arms. 

Vax felt when the dam broke and the climax he thought he had under control shot up his back without warning when he felt the burn of her hands on his skin. Brief enough not to injure but just enough to bring him over while he buried his head into her neck thrusting through his orgasm and hers. Her keen sharp and loud right next to his head while her muscles twitched and jerked and drenched the lace covering her core. 

He pulled back and despite his desire for air and rest he pressed the gentlest kiss to lax lips while she lolled limbless and loose with pleasure. The sight pleased him more than it ought to have when he continued to kiss her. Once he was sure he could move without dropping he hefted her before pulling back from the door and carrying her while she giggled to lay her on the bed in a loose limbed sprawl. It was only a moment before he joined her on the bed with a smile. Caught her lips in a slow embrace once more while she reached for him with a thrumming giggle between closed lips. Unlike usual he did not give into her wants and instead pulled back much to the chagrin of the druid now in front of him while he rose up to his knees. A proper view of her long legs, the lean length of her torso and bare arms. Dainty, if travel worn, feet and hands while she pouted playfully. He was so proud of her. More proud than he could ever tell her. Confidence seeped from her body she didn’t use to possess which revealed a mischievous nature underneath the awkward charm. He couldn’t wait to see how she would blossom in the coming years. 

“You’re staring,” Keyleth drawled out. “You should talk to me some more. I liked it.” 

He enjoyed her vocality in both things she appreciated and things she did not. Not that they had much to experiment on but now maybe… “Well then I should just put some clothes on and we can chat under the covers?” It was a tease. He would never let her sleep unless it was truly what she wanted. Not when every time she took a breath the lace at her breasts dug in gently to accentuate the plump fullness of what she possessed. 

“I want to have sex.” Blunt, oblivious, and just as adorable as ever when she spoke the words to him. He let a slow grin curve while her cheeks darkened and she couldn’t look him in the eye. 

“What, Kiki? I couldn’t hear you,” Now he started to shift back to her feet where he took one in hand and dug a firm thumb into the arch. 

His touch met with a throaty sigh while she stretched out before him as happy as a kitten in the sun. “You heard me. I want you. I need you. Please.” 

“You’ll be the death of me.” He let the words pass from quiet lips while he moved away from her foot and climbed up her body. It was easy to let himself relax into the pliant woman beneath him while she eagerly carded fingers through his hair while he kissed at her chest. 

With a sigh he pressed into her touch as she moved his hair off to the side. Too late he realized what his back probably looked like as her sharp inhale seeped in horror brought his head up. 

Keyleth pressed her hands onto the bright red handprint across his upper back as her heart seized up, “I hurt you. Why didn’t you tell me?” It was easy enough to channel her healing into his body while the redness faded to nothing. “I burned you.” 

He pulled back quickly realizing she might spiral out of control if he didn’t bring her back now, “No. You didn’t hurt me. Quite the opposite in fact.” 

Keyleth’s glimmering eyes blinked first, then a second time while the words sunk in and though she looked as if she might cry at any moment confusion blanketed her expression, “What?” 

“I’ll explain later. I like it when you’ve burned me. It barely hurts and sometimes it makes everything feel so much sharper, better. And it gives me a surge of male pride that I’ve made you so wracked with pleasure that you can’t control yourself. I love it.” 

“Really?” 

“Have I ever lied to you?” 

“No.” 

“And I’m not going to start now. I think it’s hot. Pun intended.” 

“As long as you’re sure,” The words spoken slowly pulled him down for another soft kiss. 

“Absolutely. I want you too. All of you. Flame hands too. Now I want to see this package a little more unwrapped since it will be my birthday soon.” 

She grinned and found the clasp at the front of the sheer gown. With a flick of her wrist it popped open and fell to her sides. 

“Beautiful. Stunning. Gorgeous.” He accented each word with a kiss to her lip, neck, and the space where the second clip to her top lay. Vax pushed the gown out of the way while his deft fingers traced and pressed along her breast.   
Keyleth wanted to say something back to him but every time she thought of something it sounded stupid instead she nodded with a tight gasp as his fingers pulled gently on the tip of her breast. “It’s always going to be your birthday soon.” 

Another chuckle while he tortured her sweetly through the textured top bringing her pleasure to a point of stinging sensitivity when she pushed at his hands for some relief. The pressure on her breasts relaxed when the top popped open, “Easiest lock I’ve ever picked.” 

The quip made her groan at him even while she took in his lopsided grin and wink. “You look like your sister when you do that.” 

Keyleth startled when she felt a firm swat to her thigh not enough to sting, “I don’t want to hear about my sister when I’ve got you half naked, Tempest.” 

She made a face, “No. No titles. It’s weird.” 

“But I like your title. You earned it with blood, sweat, and tears. You are powerful and beautiful and I will never tire of telling anyone and everyone just that.” Mouth peppered kisses at her throat and down to the middle of her chest as he teased her with tongue and touch to flesh until she shifted and bucked under him with a cry of yearning. He relented only to praise her as he hurried down her body to her sodden lace underwear. “Gods above, Kiki. Look at the gift you’ve given me. I can see your need sodden into the bed. I bet you are so warm and wet that I could just slide right in, couldn’t I?” 

He really had to stop doing that. The rough punch to his filthy mouth because it only made her wetter, clenching and arching into nothing. She felt his mouth at the top curve of her hip as his teeth sunk into the bone and muscle there with a growl. “You smell so good.” He whispered as his fingers hooked into the top and pulled them down her legs with a single smooth motion. 

Keyleth’s form curved upward when his mouth descended with little preparation or preamble to devour her. She choked back a loud cry with his growl into her hot tender flesh. It was too much. Not enough. Her body wasn’t sure if it should grind down or pull back but the decision was made for her when he gripped her thighs to pull her further apart to his hungry mouth. It was embarrassingly quick when she locked in place with a scream dissolving into trembling but he didn’t stop and instead lapped and suckled her until she thrashed in his grip with broken cries and nails digging furrows into sheets smelling faintly of smoke. 

He lifted his head and let her rest a moment with weak moans. She was a mess of sweat and slick looking utterly unable to take any more of his attentions. But more she could have. He had to ask again from his position between splayed thighs, “Keyleth, love. Sunshine.” 

Her head lolled up weakly when she took in his dark pupils and flushed cheeks. Hungry. 

“Do you still want everything?” 

It took her orgasm addled mind a moment to process his words before she nodded, “Yes. I want you.” 

“Tell me if it hurts. Or if you don’t like it. Promise?” 

“Yes.” Flame hair spilled back down onto the soft pillow while he settled once more between her legs. He dreamed of this. To dive into her warmth and never leave. The soft walls his mouth and fingers explored the fringes of clenching down onto him in one way or another. So he gentled his mouth as he stroked a finger up and down her inner flesh. Finding no resistance he slipped the digit into divine heat which immediately clamped down onto the intrusion. A bit of tenseness to her thighs made him pause while he looked up at her, “Kiki? Does it hurt?” 

“It’s...weird. But no pain.” She sighed and shifted at the strange sensation between her thighs. Full but empty. Keyleth clenched again as it withdrew and pushed inside. He returned his mouth to her clit with soft strokes to keep her distracted while he got her used to the pattern. The second finger stretched a little more but it didn’t hurt. 

He thought better of searching out the spot within he knew would please her and instead continued to prepare her, already loosened and relaxed and soft as best as he could. The third finger joined him for a few strokes when he pulled all three out of her shiny and warm with her. “Yes?” He rose up, leaking and painfully hard still over her. 

“Yes.” Nervous energy prickled along her skin. Eager but cautious as he rose above her and she knew the theory of all of this but not the practice. He would settle with his cock between her thighs and push in like his fingers. That was the theory. Confusion wrinkled her brow when he instead continued up her body to kiss her with a hint of musk before he lay on his back next to her. “What?” 

He smiled, “I want you to control this.” 

“But I don’t know what to do,” She stuttered out with hot cheeks. 

“That’s what I’m here for,” His wink put her at ease. “Now if you can I want you to sit here.” He touched his lower belly where the trail of hair began to his groin. 

She eased up, still a little out of sorts and straddled his belly. Her wetness seeped onto the lean muscled flesh but Vax did not mind. “What now?” 

“Scoot back and keep your knees down to the mattress,” Vax offered and she did so. Felt the hot brand of his cock at the cleft of her backside and the slide of it through her wetness as she pulled up and back. “Good girl. Now hands on my chest to balance.” It was easy to give her instruction despite his simmering eagerness to see her above him with mouth parted and eyes hot with pleasure.

She did as bid feeling his heartbeat through his muscle and bone just as fast as hers. The anticipation was dizzying and she shifted nervously but his thumb at her hip gentled her tremble while he gazed up at her with so much love she thought her heart might burst. “What now?” 

“Move your hips down slowly. Slowly. Don’t be afraid to move up and down. There’s no hurry. This is for you right now.” One hand steadied her hip and thigh with this thumb stroking her skin while the other reached down his belly but she couldn’t see where. Didn’t want to look just yet. She wanted to watch him. 

The first try didn’t quite work as she shifted to get the angle just right but when she felt the firm head of him brush her clit she spasmed and did it again before a slight shift and he rested just at the center of her. His cock hadn’t ever been imposing really. He was pretty. The darker skin and flushed head hidden under the flap of skin, she enjoyed playing with but now pressed to her he felt impossibly large. But she was stubborn and she wanted this so she relaxed downward until she felt the stretch then lifted back up. Down and up she worked and worked onto the thickness of him while she watched dark eyes devour her and the flush of his cheeks stained his neck and chest while his breath stuttered and hiccuped with the effort of not moving. The thumb at her hip dug in and the hand between his legs left to grasp her other hip just to steady them both. 

It was strange and nice. Like being safe and warm but in a different way. She felt full and loved when her hips finally rested flush to him. No pain and only the stretch of her body as it molded perfectly to his. She let out air kept inside with a grin of triumph. “You are divine made flesh.” He groaned out. The worship plain on his face, the reverence, stole the breath from her. 

Keyleth preened once more as she used leverage to pull her body up until he rested just at the tip of her before she sunk down again slowly. Oh. That was nice. It was slow and methodical at first just trying to use muscles she hadn’t used before when Vax’s neck strained and she realized how much she might have been tormenting him unintentionally. “Vax.” 

“Kiki. Oh gods.” He gritted teeth while his hands started to move her up and down faster. 

Her body clenched down on him and the groaned thrummed out once more but as her body rose up and down she shifted forward to let off some pressure from her calves and the next stroke down shot up her spine. “Oh.” Gods she loved him. She loved him so much. Gaze rapt and clouded when she stared down at him with her own brand of awe.

Suddenly he surged up and hauled them back so he could sit up on the headboards without dislodging her. Her next stroke pulsed through her body with his hands on her hips guiding her, “There we go.” Her hands on his chest dug short fingernails in while he met the downward roll of her hips to thrust into her deeply, faster, faster, harder. The familiar rise of her climax pulsed through her with each meeting of their bodies until she bowed back then curled forward with a scream. It felt so good to have something for her body to hold while she let the white heat of oblivion take her vision and Vax take her mouth while he groaned out some broken version of her name and rhythm faltered as he joined her at the tail end of her orgasm unable to hold out against the spasm of her walls around him. The short thrusts eased off until she fell onto his chest sweating and dizzy with joy. His hands left her hips, sure to bruise by morning while he stroked any part of her he could reach. She nuzzled his chest where the thrum of his heart roared in her ears and felt drowsy in his embrace. Happy. Full. 

“It was good then?” Vax huffed breathlessly into her ear. 

“Shush. Sleep time.” Keyleth mumbled. 

“No. We need to clean up.” 

"No," Her high noise of protest made him chuckle and she clung as he tried to dislodge her but in the end she sank to the bed and burrowed atop the sheets. 

Wet and sticky he rose up on unsteady legs to find a bowl of clean water and a rag. Sex was fun but messy as he cleaned himself up. He went to Keyleth and parted her thighs to run gentle cloth along her tender flesh while she whimpered. “You were amazing.” 

“I know.” Her sleepy reply. 

“You need to use the bathroom before you sleep.”

Another growl of protest but she eventually stumbled her way to the other room with some help then back to lie naked in bed. He hauled her up to lie down with her head on his chest like she loved and smiled. What he wouldn’t give for her. His sunshine. To spend the rest of his life with her just nearby would be enough but the gift of her first time was something he would carry to his grave.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this took me so long. I had a rut where my inspiration sort of fizzled out but a couple of recent comments made me pick up the keyboard again to write this out. So you should thank them. The comments really do make my day when I see them and they make me want to write more for you guys.
> 
> I also got some really good news this last weekend so yay!
> 
> I hope this was as in character as it should be. I reread it like twice after I wrote it. I don't usually do that. Happy Halloween/Samhain/Whatever you celebrate. Hope to see you again soon for the morning after.


	20. Morning After

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The morning after, really the whole day after

Keyleth woke slowly cocooned in warmth and a feeling of safety and peace. She shifted and felt the warmth tighten around her before she opened her eyes to find the warm brown of Vax'Ildan gaze focused on her. “Good morning,” he hummed with a smile and she hummed back. Her skin slid on his when she leaned up to kiss him and felt the surprising soreness between her legs and at her thighs when she moved. “You slept like a rock and you snored.” 

“Take that back,” she muttered into his chest with quiet breaths. “I don’t snore.” 

“They were cute snores,” he added and she opened her mouth and bit him softly in the meat of his chest. 

“Ouch,” He lightly slapped her behind. “Not nice. I’m not a snack you know.” 

“You taste good,” She laved a long line along his salty skin and grinned cheekily up at him. 

“Not as good as you taste, Kiki,” the heat in his gaze made her cheeks warm and she looked away a little. “And not as good as breakfast will taste either.” 

“Does that mean I have to move?” 

“No. I’m going to bring you breakfast in bed and we are going to sit around naked all day after just the two of us.” 

Keyleth stared up at him with narrowed eyes to try to see if he were joking but the sincerity shone through, “I can’t do that. I have responsibilities.” 

“I’ll tell them you are off for the day and I won’t hear any arguments otherwise, yeah? We did something big last night and I want it to be special for you,” he rubbed a circle onto the smooth skin of her back and she couldn’t help but melt into his eyes from the way he looked at her. 

“It was special. And fun. You don’t have to make a day out of it.” 

“My first time was in an inn where I was paid fifty gold to lose my virginity to a man who thought I looked pretty. It’s okay, Kiki. Don’t look so...Anyway. I was given my money and sent on my way after feeling used but Vex and I ate well for a month and I was able to get her a birthday present. I want this to be different so I’m going to spoil you and you are going to let me because it’s what I want, right?”

Keyleth nodded because what else was she supposed to do? It would be nice just to lounge around her home with Vax instead of having responsibility all the time while she was home.

“Good. Now you stay snuggled up and I’ll be back,” Vax shifted her gently off of him despite her protests and walked naked to the bathroom before he washed hands and headed off to the kitchen. 

Keyleth realized she really needed to pee and so she disobeyed her order and used her bathroom. Unsteady legs carried her sort of like a newborn deer to the bathroom where she was grateful to sit down. It was more work to rise on shaking legs to get back into bed after the fact. 

The door to the outer room was cracked but Keyleth could hear nothing of the sound of cooking coming from the other room. She was about to go and investigate when the door swung open and Vax walked in, still very naked with bowls of colorful fruit, chocolates, and bread with butter. He somehow managed to balance it all on a tray and carry a nice looking bottle of some sort of wine. She couldn’t read it from her angle though it looked very expensive. “I had second thoughts about actually lighting the fireplace. Didn’t want to singe anything important,” he winked at her while setting the tray at the foot of their shared bed and placing the wine bottle next to it. 

With startling skill Keyleth’s hands darted out to grasp the bottle and hauled the cold glass to her so she could read it better, “It’s Shiraz. Really nice Shiraz. This must have cost a fortune.”

He took it out of her hands, “You don’t need to worry about how much it cost. We’re celebrating.” He pulled one of his knives from his nightstand and stabbed the cork. It came out with an audible pop and the sweet scent of the wine filtered out almost instantly making her mouth water in anticipation. 

“Too bad we don’t have an aerator,” she joked but just after the humor came the stab of sadness at her lost friend. 

“Truly such a loss,” she could hear him roll his eyes though she didn’t bother looking at him. “Shit. I forgot the glasses. Don’t touch that yet.” He gestured at the food before he hopped out of bed and returned after the clinking of glass in the other room. Impatient and hungry she had been halfway to reaching for the bowels when he returned, “Bad girl.” 

“I’m hungry. And it looks really good,” she pouted which turned to an exclamation of glee as he poured the wine into each glass and handed her one while he took the other. 

It was sweet and slid down her throat with all the best feeling and she took another drink, “You did good.” 

“On more than one count I would say now come over here and sit,” he patted the space between his legs and she, with some difficulty, climbed over and settled down with her backside against his groin and her head at his shoulder with his warmth at her back making her shiver. She continued to drink until her glass was empty and the pleasant buzz of alcohol on an empty stomach made her fuzzy and relaxed as he leaned forward and snagged the tray of food. Keyleth reached for it but he lightly slapped her hand away before he reached into the bowl and pulled out a bright ripe strawberry and brought it to her lips. 

“What are you doing?” She eyed the fruit with just a little difficulty. 

“Spoiling you,” he answered. “Now open.” 

She leaned forward feeling a little strange and bit into the fruit he offered. The juice ran down her chin a little and she chewed and swallowed before she took the remaining strawberry from his fingers with a little suck to clean them. 

He brought another fruit to her mouth and she bit into that as well. Her belly twisted but it wasn’t uncomfortable as much as it was strange to be hand fed like a pet. By the time she was full and finished she had eaten half the fruit and chocolate and had two more glasses of wine but she felt strangely content while he ate his meal as well. “Why did you do that?” 

“You deserve to be spoiled and I’ve wanted to do it for a while now. You look so beautiful taking food from my hand.” 

“It felt really--,” she struggled with the words half because she wasn’t sure what she felt and half because she felt really good with the buzz of the drink in her veins,”--nice. Like I was yours and special and stuff.” 

“It can be intimate taking food like that but can sometimes make people feel uncomfortable. When you feel a little less full I’m going to give you a massage,” he took another bite out of his food while she snuggled up to him and sipped her wine. 

They laughed and talked in quiet tones almost as if the entire day was a secret and it was one of the better mornings she had in a long while. They found themselves lying face to face on the bed touching any part of skin they could reach with gentle caresses intermittently as they rubbed noses and smiled and kissed just luxuriating in the lazy day.

When perhaps an hour later she felt a little less like exploding Vax rose and rolled Keyleth onto her belly and stroked up her neck to move her hair to the side while she looked the other way. He pressed a kiss to the revealed flesh tattooed and still freckled, down her shoulders and back just letting the barest press of soft lips linger along the line of her muscle and bone down to the roundness of her bottom where he bit the flesh lightly and kissed down the back of her thighs until he reached her feet. From there she felt the bed shift and watched him sit up and lean back. The sound of slick rubbing came from his hands and a soft puff of air escaped with the warm oil touched the skin of her foot as he rubbed the soles with firm easy pressure. He switched feet after some time while she sank into the bed. His hands moved up to her ankles and calves peppered with fine red hairs, then up the back of her knees and the meat of her thighs where things changed from relaxing to arousing. His nails dragged along the skin just like her calves but this time something warm fluttered to life in her belly and settled between her thighs as he rubbed. 

She shifted on the bed and felt the flush on her cheeks warm from not just the alcohol. His quiet chuckled only stoked the warmth inside her. His hands left her thighs and he moved up to her lower back. The sheer feel of the meat of his palms as they dug into her back made her moan quietly but he did not seem to notice. The slight blaze in her belly didn’t leave her even as his hands made it up her neck. “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of you but we’ll be easy today. You were very knotted up from last night.” She couldn’t contemplate long what he meant when he pulled up her hips, tired and boneless and she was and felt him settled between them. 

Keyleth was about to ask him what he was doing when she felt something moist and soft touch the core of her heat and she released a soft moan into the pillow. Vax’s hands dug into her rear as he lapped at her core and held her aloft for him to pay soft attention to her. 

It was so gentle that every orgasm he wrung from her left her suspended for another wave of euphoria. The most tentative licks and sucks made her ease gently through climax after climax until she moaned without end into the air of the room. 

It was a long while until he deemed he was finished and the moment he stopped supporting her she fell to the bed half delirious from his lovely treatment.

“I love you,” he whispered to her as he lay down. 

“Love you,” she managed through heavy lidded eyes and a mouth thick with saliva. 

He jumped when her hand shot out clumsily to grab at his cock, half hard since he was trying to keep his urges at bay but even the fumbled grasp brought the blood surging into him while her eyes glowed with adoration and satiety. 

“Want you to come too,” she smiled and tried to move again. 

“I’m a little worried about your reflexes around such delicate equipment, Kiki. I’ll be fine.”

“No. You come now,” She demanded and pouted. 

“You are really adorable. You know that, right?” 

“Shut up.” 

“I’ll come later if you want. I’ll even let you do it. How does that sound?” He teased and stroked her hair back from her face. 

She grumbled but didn’t argue while he pulled her close and threw the covers over both of them for a time. 

While she dozed Vax couldn’t help but linger on the strange feeling in his chest as if something was about to happen any time now. Something that would change the world. Something that he had to do and it felt final and dangerous and though it was a small, tiny thing he worried about the little druid in his arms. He knew that beyond all doubt he would give his life for her as many times as it took to keep her whole and safe. Something he would have done even before his heart knew it loved her more than it should. 

Keyleth woke and tackled him after she stumbled over to the bathroom and back. He eager exuberance infected him while she tunneled hands under the covers to grasp at his now soft arousal. It didn’t take her long, being naked and excited kissing him and touching him for that to change. She dove under the covers and he fisted the sheets when she took him in her mouth with a hum of delight. Her hands dug into his thighs while she sucked and lapped at him until he arched up with a groan of her name and euphoria suffused his limbs while he emptied into her mouth. This time she managed to keep from choking on him and even swallowed though her nose scrunched at the bitter taste he pulled her in for a kiss and handed her more wine. 

As night fell and the two of them settled down for the night he had to ask, “Do you have something for protection then?” 

“Yes. Vex...Um gave me some potions that last for a while. Just to prevent little accidents from running around she said. So yeah. I’ve got that covered so we’re good any time we feel like doing more stuff.” 

“Having sex. You can say the word you know.” 

“I know. Sex. See.” She stuck her tongue out and squealed when his hands dove to her sides to tickle her. Keyleth retaliated and soon enough with all the rolling about they fell off the bed in a heap of blankets and limbs. 

Vax would have cut them out of the mess if his daggers were close enough. As it was they had to work out of the knot they found themselves in. 

Dinner was much the same as lunch and as the last of the sunlight disappeared from the room Keyelth sighed, “I don’t want to go back tomorrow.” 

“I know. We could always run away.” 

She leveled him a look, “We’ve run away enough I think but maybe we should do more of these days. Not all the time but just days for us. It was good to have you all to myself.” She ran her fingers through his hair. 

“Yeah. But you know I’m always going to be yours, right?” 

“Mine and Vex’s,” she joked and nuzzled his cheek. 

“Well yeah but that’s unspoken,” He kissed the tip of her nose and the feeling lingered longer than he wanted as he stroked her hair and cheeks and sighed at the thought of getting up tomorrow morning and actually having to do something with his day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey. So I'm really sorry that I haven't gotten a chapter up until now. I've had a severe lack of motivation to do much writing and been exhausted from work to try to drum up the creativity. I also had a bit of a funk just from the lack of positive reinforcement but regardless. My fingers decided to start writing this week and now we have another chapter! 
> 
> I'm on the fence about where to go next. I really want to stay fluffy but a part of me wants to jump to the angsty stuff which would require me to actually watch episode 102 and I'm not sure I can. I'm also pregnant again after 3 years of trying so that has made me really emotional and extremely tired but that's finally wearing down. So I'm excited to get more of this out. 
> 
> Hope everyone who celebrates had a Happy Thanksgiving and I hope to publish another chapter before Christmas as well. :)


	21. The Calm Before the Storm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Just a little fluff before everything goes to hell

Vax felt the forest floor beneath bare feet as he raced with barely a sound to mark his passing. Narrowly avoiding bushes, low hanging branches and tree roots pushed up from the ground in search of food and water to grow. He had lost most of his clothing a while back marking false trails, doubling back, as well as other tricks to throw off pursuit. The muck on his cheeks, dry from time and wind, upwind to be precise, made his skin itch but helped to hide his scent well enough. He stumbled while thinking and his heart spiked again with the surge of adrenaline that came with danger. Clad in only pants he grinned as he crossed a small stream with a leap to land without issue on the other side. Thirty minutes had come and gone now he was certain and another thrill pulsed through his limbs. The heavy scent of evergreens in bloom, sap and tar, pine would be an excellent place to make his final stand and so he chose a tree within the grove to climb and once he found purchase in the branches he hid. 

The rough bark dug uncomfortably into his soles as he balanced then scraped at his back while he took deep, slow breaths in an effort to calm his racing heart. Surely he would win this time. It was fun between them and a game which helped him hone his survival skills learned from Vex in order to make him better. That was what he told himself anyway. More than that it was the thrill of the chase, to be the willing prey for her in all her glory, and Vax knew he had an uncomfortable relationship with death, danger, and the cold fear it brought with it. The feeling of being alive. 

He waited, for what seemed like an hour until he heard it. Barely. Snap. 

Vax could feel his pupils dilate, felt his heart jump and dug his hand into the branch above him. Prey. 

She sniffed the ground, the air, and he tracked her from his perch. Impossibly white against green as she crept along the damp earth belly low and nose high. She circled around each tree and looked up several times but seemed to not notice him. He didn’t buy it. She knew he was there. She had to but it was a part of the game as well. When he would try to run and he always ran, almost always. 

Minxie, as Grog named this form, was the favorite though there had been others. A way to play different from most couples out there. 

She left his immediate sight and he waited. Muscles tense as he shifted gently off the balls of his feet. He could wait her out. Or not. 

He hit the ground with a barely audible thud and took off through the brush. 

This time not as careful. 

As he disappeared out of the evergreen grove his cheeks pulled back in a wry grin at the low growl which echoed nearby.   
Up, down, through he ran and felt each step as the large cat pursued. 

In a flash, or rather a tumble his world flipped as a large body jolted into his and he twisted through the air to land flat on his back. The taste of fear, and a little iron he welcomed greedily along with the heavy body, fur and teeth and green eyes unchanged from her half elven visage. 

Teeth bared in a low growl right at his face he laughed and brought both hands up to scratch behind her ears, “How long?” 

Minxie huffed at him though leaned into his scratches greedily even as the fur under his hands receded into soft red curls, pointed ears, and warm skin of his Keyleth. 

She leaned into hands now gentler with a grin, eyes half lidded, “Longer than usual. You sent me on a few false trails.” 

“I’ve been learning.” He pulled her down to his chest, ear to his heart. “From the two best ladies I know.” 

“Your heart is always so fast after I chase you.” 

“You love it.” 

“_You_ love it.” 

Sometimes the energy after their game is frenzied and passionate and clothes are discarded along with inhibitions to ride out the adrenaline high. “You’re right.” He kissed her head while she sank into him. 

“I know,” Keyleth turned her head to look up at him, “What sort of trouble do you think we’ll get into on this weekend adventure?” 

“Oh, I’m sure it will be fine.” 

“Like always?” 

“Yeah. Of course. I mean it’s not like the world is going to end or anything. Just a nice time with the family right? Though a little excitement wouldn’t be too bad would it?” 

“Wanderlust again, Vax?” 

“Just a little adventure maybe. A tiny one. Nothing earth shattering or that’s going to kill us or anything.” 

“Yeah. I guess a little adventure wouldn’t be too bad. I’m looking forward to it. Getting away from all the responsibility for a while.” 

“I know you’ve been under some pressure lately. So we’ll have a good drink in Whitestone with all of our friends, yeah?” 

“Yeah.” She grinned and he hauled her up to kiss her. 

It wasn’t as if they wouldn’t be back in a few days anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys! I totally didn't realize how long it had been since I updated this story. I sort of lost my way for a while and had some uncomfortable interactions about my works but I feel renewed now. I've lost my job three months ago and had a baby last month so life has been moving along. 
> 
> I can't guarantee chapters timely but I did finish up Vox Machina today and cried a lot so the next few chapters will be Vecna related. Sorry. But I will finish this story. I promise. I've also some more works on my tumblr and links to other things as well. Check it out if you wish!

**Author's Note:**

> So this won't be long. Like maybe 5 chapters max. Max. I know a few people are in the Keyleth is asexual camp which is cool. I just like to think she's really really inexperienced because from the bit of VM I've watched she just is very very naive about the world. So Vax gets to teach her about her body and what she might want from it. I can't promise quick updates but this is really burning a hole in my brain. I'm currently watching both campaigns. Have a great weekend!


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